My first big purchase

Guess what I did last Monday?

I bought my first car!!!!!!!!!!! Holy macaroni! I know, I didn't see it coming either. But, after some discussion with my parents, it was determined that my brother would most likely be needing a car during his senior year. And to be fair, the car that I was previously using was bought for both of us, and he should really get it!

So that meant I needed to get out there and start looking at some car options. I knew I wanted something bigger than what I had, possibly an SUV because of the extra storage space for all of my gardening and lawn care tools. My awesome dad went with me to look at cars on Friday night and we started at Ford and Chevy. I know I wanted to try a Ford Escape and a Chevy Equinox. Of course I LOVED both of them! We went home that night because it was late and I went to be dreaming of a Chevy Equinox.

The next morning my accountant dad crunched some numbers according to my income and savings and realized that I could not afford a new car, as I previously believed I did. I was devastated! My dad suggested downsizing to a larger sedan and I just couldn't do it... I had my heart set on a SUV!

Luckily, he wasn't going to give up and brought me to CarMax that afternoon. If I really wanted a SUV, then I would have to settle for a used one! While that was disappointing after looking and driving a 2012 Equinox, I started over and looked at used SUVs at CarMax.  There was an awesome selection, and it made me feel a lot better. I looked at and drove a Jeep Liberty, a Hyundai Tuscon, and a Saturn Vue. I also looked at Fords again, as well as other models of Hyundais and Hondas. Our sales agent, Terrance, was excellent sticking within my budget and didn't let me look at cars I couldn't afford very long, let alone drive one. I really appreciate that!

After a few test drives, I decided I loved the Saturn Vue. My dad has a Saturn and I love driving it! It was very smooth and had great space in the back trunk. However, I did not love the color. Our CarMax only had black models. Ehhh, not my color. I preferred silver! We headed inside and Terrance pulled up all of the Illinois CarMaxes to see what other Vues were out there. Unfortunately there were no silver ones with acceptable mileage (I didn't mention that I had a long list of things I required of my new car!). But there was a red and blue one with my requirements. For some reason the blue one spoke to me! We ordered it to be delivered to our location and made a date to test drive it on Monday.

Monday night, we went back and I test drove the blue Saturn Vue.... and loved it. I was extremely critical of every inch of the body of the car, I felt silly, but I wanted to make sure it was in good shape! It was, and it drove wonderful. This time my mom and dad came and they both loved it as well! We went inside, and signed the papers, and I drove home my brand new car! :)

Here are some pictures!

My new wheels!

Front shot of my car. What do you think of the color?

One important thing for me was how comfortable the back seat was. I had my dad sit in the back seat of every car and let me know how they felt! He liked the Vue's back seat the best. :)

Obviously another big factor was the trunk space. And I cant even tell you how perfect this back seat is for me to start with!

All in all, I am VERY excited and grateful for my dad's help with this entire process. He remained very patient and supportive during the car shopping, researching, and paperwork portion. And of course thank you to my mom for letting us gallivant around to dealers for a weekend and for co-signing!

What do you think of my new car? What do you think of the color? What was your first car?