Vehicle Upgrade

Last week, Corey and I started talking about getting a bigger vehicle. Since we won’t be able to look into different housing options until after we file our taxes next year, we figured now would be a good time to take a credit score hit - giving us 8 months to allow some inquiries to drop off. I wanted to stick with an SUV as that’s what I’m more comfortable driving so we started looking for a Ford Explorer. We wanted third-row seating, and something slightly bigger than my Edge. Corey is big on safety features and four-wheel drive since we tend to get ice here in the winter. I also prefer a backup camera and heated seats - both my Edge has. But we agreed that we wouldn’t rush anything. My Edge is still good, so this purchase would not be a necessity. The alternative plan was to have me take his vehicle (a Ford F150) in the new year and get another smaller truck for him.

Well, after just two days of browsing, we found a vehicle. Single owner, all of the maintenance records, very well kept, and all of the features I wanted (and then some). It was also my dream vehicle! Anytime someone asks me what type of vehicle I want, I would automatically talk about this type of vehicle. "I'm on a budget, but I'd love a black-on-black Tahoe. You won't know if I'm a drug dealer or a soccer cheer mom." I’ve also joked about how I’ve always had to settle on vehicles because my dream car was always out of reach from a financial standpoint. "I drive a Ford Edge because a Chevrolet is too boujee for me & I can't afford one." No offense to any Ford or Ford Edge owners out there - my little Edge has served me well. Anyway, when we found this one and saw the price tag, it felt like it was too good to be true. 

The next day, my husband contacted the dealership and was originally told that it was sold. Several hours after that conversation they called him back and told him it was still available. He went ahead and reserved it for us to test drive, and we headed over after we got off from work. Once we got done with the test drive we asked to negotiate a price and payments. Which is the worst part of buying a vehicle if you ask me. Throughout the whole process, I kept telling myself that this wasn’t something we needed even if it was a vehicle that I really liked. There would be other vehicles and opportunities. And during negotiations, we started walking away twice. They did eventually crunch some numbers and we were able to agree on payments we were comfortable with. I still experienced anxiety and nausea as I normally do with large purchases - up to signing the paperwork. At the end of the day, we walked out of the dealership as proud owners of a Z71 Chevrolet Tahoe. It’s black-on-black with a black interior, and I LOVE it! Eeeeks!

Now, I am determined to have this one last me 10 years. It’s not new, but I’ve never needed new. I’ve always been pretty basic, and this vehicle has more than enough features. It’s comfortable, drives really well, and it fits our growing family. It’s the exact body style I wanted, and have always loved. As long as we maintain and take care of it, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t last a long time. Anyway, I'm so excited. And I'm super grateful to my husband because he's the one who stumbled on it and has offered to cut into his fishing budget so we could take on a bit extra on the payments. But most importantly, I'm thanking God. There were a lot of other things behind the scenes with not only the dealership, our old car, and our finances that allowed us to upgrade our vehicle. We wouldn't have been able to make this purchase without help and I'm grateful for that. 

Well, I Got A Vehicle

So, as it turned out...there were a lot of problems with Beau’s recently purchased vehicle. Problems that he wasn’t able to get fixed, and at the end wouldn’t have been worth it. Since he had just moved out, and would soon be having to figure out a way to do pickups for visitation I decided to give him my Explorer to use. I handed over the keys and headed to the city with my parents in order to purchase another vehicle for myself. 

I already had three cars on my list that I wanted to look at once we made it to the dealership. I wanted something with less than 100k miles on it and under $14k. They had two Equinoxes and a Traverse that fit my criteria, and the entire drive I kept silently praying that at least one of the vehicles would still be available once we got there. I could tell y’all the whole story, and go into great detail about the process, but that would turn this into such a long read so I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'll just say that all of mine and my mom’s praying worked. The man that greeted us was super nice. I know it’s their job, but there was just something kind about him. He gave off some really calming vibes too which was amazing because big purchases have always given me anxiety. When we asked about our list it turned out that two of the vehicles had already been snagged up, and we got there just in time to be the first ones taking out the third vehicle for a test drive. It’s the one that I really wanted, and the most affordable (for my budget) out of all three. Once we were done with the test drive I filled out the paperwork, and then we were told that there were three other people interested in purchasing the same car. However, I was first in line due to the order in which our applications had been submitted. 

Everything went through, they had a few questions about my credit report, and after about an hour I was told that if I wanted the car it was mine. And I said yes! The last step was to go speak with financing and look into some added warranty. Thankfully, they were able to work with me and I got monthly payments way lower than what I was expecting. I drove off the lot with my car and a huge smile on my face. I still constantly look at it in awe while giving thanks because honestly, I can’t believe I was able to get it. Within two weeks I purchased car seat covers, and heavy-duty floor mats because I have a nine-year-old. And thanks to some extra income my parents offered to have the windows tinted for me. Again, so many blessings. And while this isn’t a brand new, 2019-fancy-ass vehicle, it’s still the one that I’ve always wanted so I’m super stoked!  

She has plenty of room and cargo space that’s just big enough for my needs.  Yes, I refer to my car as a "she". Thirty-two bucks in gas will fill her up and lasts me seven to eight days. Ecoboost features are amazing. She was a single-owner vehicle and when we got the Carfax report it showed that the previous owner took very good care of her. She had routine maintenance, under the hood cleaning, and tire rotations. Thank you, to whoever previously had my girl. So, she was in really great shape for her age. Since I opted for the extra warranty, if anything were to go wrong, I opted for bumper to bumper coverage for the next two years. This will get basically anything fixed with a $100 deductible. So, I've been feeling pretty grateful lately. Lucky to have been able to purchase this on my own, and thankful for the timing that allowed me to do so. And God willing, as long as I can keep up with the same maintenance as the previous owner, this car will end up being Emery’s first car when she starts driving. My dad and I already have a plan! 

Anyway, I hope this doesn't come off as bragging. I'm just really excited to be able to share this with y'all! It's a big deal for me, and it's something I've been able to do on my own. As y'all know there have been a lot of big changes for me lately, not all happy ones, and this is just something that I feel really proud of being able to do. The day that I made my first payment my brother asked, "So how does it feel to be an independent woman who's able to keep a roof over her head, provide for her daughter, and pay for her bills all on her own?"  Now, it's no secret that I never wanted my life to take some of these turns, but when my brother asked me that question over the phone I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. Because it feels damn good! It feels amazing to know that I've been shaken up, tossed around, and yet I'm still getting back up. I'm still surviving and pushing forward. Some days a little slower than others, but I'm doing it. I'm showing up. And I think that's what matters most. Somehow, this only slowly started to dawn on me as the really nice salesman, Paul, walked over with a huge grin on his face and placed the keys in my palm. "Congratulations, Raquel. She's all yours." 

Our New Little SUV

So, we finally got a CAR! Wahoo!! And the gas gauge barely moves! I’m so freaking excited over this, y’all! You have NO idea. Ok, maybe some of you do. It’s a 2002 Ford Escape *twitch*. I know this is silly, but our family has been strictly Dodge and Chevrolet. When the economy went to crap though, my dad bought this old Honda (currently sidelined due to it needing some repairs), and recently he bought a small Nissan truck to commute to and from work. Both were less than $2,000 and saved a lot on gas. So that’s when our “brand straying” started. LOL! It’s nothing against Ford really, it’s just simply not been our preference. So, after the three weeks of searching for something decent, with low(ish) miles, dependable, and within our budget we came up REALLY short. I’m talking almost NOTHING. And what did come up either had way too many miles, was too small, or completely out of our budget.

This past Saturday, the guy offered to open up his place so I could come look at it. It’s not perfect, but it comes pretty damn close. No body damage, the interior has at most ONE stain that you hardly even notice, one of the small hub caps is missing, but other than that it’s pretty clean. And in all seriousness, I love it! It’s roomy, but still compact. Emery’s car seat fits and when she’s in it her feet don’t touch the back of the seat. It also has plenty of storage space in the back, and it’s so easy to handle. I think it’s perfect for us! The guy offered us a nice extended “warranty” that he didn’t even have to offer and we get free oil changes on him so long as we go through the local Ford-house! How great is that?

I’m so grateful for my parents. Without them, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. I’d still be spending $200 a week on gas. I truly feel blessed to have the help that I do. And I know this is silly but the best part for me, is knowing that I have my OWN car now. I don’t have to ask anyone if I can use theirs. I can come and go as I please. We can now plan a trip without worrying if we’ll need to rent a car or borrow one. And it’s just a nice feeling. I never knew I’d be so happy and thankful for being able to get my own vehicle. 

I Need A Ride

You’re probably tired of me complaining about gas and money problems, huh? If so, feel free to skip this first part of the post. Any who, I’ve talked about our gas dilemma, and my financial worries ever since starting school. Well, last weekend my parents wanted me to get some flea treatments for Sampson because he’s been scratching lately. When I told them it would have to wait they immediately wanted to know why I couldn’t afford to buy them. They always want to know everything about our lives. I told them about our low checks, and how it would just have to wait till this week. The lectures started. My parents didn’t understand why my husband just didn’t go and find another job if his current one was cutting his hours. But finding a job in this town is not that easy and that recent cut in hours was only temporary. I, on the other hand, don’t really have a choice because I have to go to class. So I just told them that we couldn't help it. This was how it was going to be for a little while. Now, I’m appreciative that my husband is steadily gaining his hours back each week and he should be back to his full forty hours by next week! But that doesn't change the fact that we’re still taking a hit on gas cost. I spent $180 just in gas, during last week. My husband spent at least $90. That’s a lot of dough!

So my parents decided to come up with their own “plan”. They would lend me $4,000 to find myself a used car. I love them and I am so grateful for their help, but I feel like this will put us in an even bigger hole financially. When I told my mom about my hesitation, she said “We already sent for the money and we’ve set up a time this weekend to go look at an ‘SUV’ in town.” In the meantime, I was told to look around. Dealerships don’t ever have anything nice with low miles for less than $10,000 so I quickly quit looking at those, and the real search began. I looked through Cars.com, Auto Trader, and Craigslist. I browsed a few local small dealerships, and some “on the side of the road-for sale by owner” ones. Unfortunately, with less than $7,000 my options were very limited. Still, I found a few that could possibly work. They didn’t have the greatest mileages, but were still in decent condition. My mother’s been looking as well, and now we’re just trying to weed out the bad ones.

Still, this search has left me feeling a bit frustrated and exhausted. My parents want to find something this weekend, and I don’t have the energy to be going all over Texas to try out cars. But I should be grateful that I’m even getting the chance to get one. I wanted a car, 4 cylinder, that would get me GREAT gas mileage. But my dad said he doesn’t trust small cylinder cars with high mileages. Then my mother said with us having Emery we should look into a small SUV with 6 cylinders because they's have more room and still get decent MPG. So that’s what we’ve been looking into. We’ve emailed and called a few potentials but either they’ve been sold or we haven’t heard back. It’s been such a hassle! Car shopping is so not fun when you’re broke, lol!

I’m almost tempted to just get the Ford Escape my parents checked out just to be over this already. I can’t believe I’m actually doing it though. I'm still pretty hesitant about the whole situation. I'm suppose to pay them back with our tax return for next year, but I don't think I can afford to give them our entire tax return. I'm a bit concerned about that. I swear I’m going to have to let them enslave me just to pay them back for everything they’ve helped me with. I’m going to owe them for the rest of my life. Ugh! Wish me luck, please?!