Riding in Style

For a few years now, Joi and I have been desiring a newer, larger vehicle. The Ford Taurus was nice and served us well, but it just wasn't feasible for a large family like ours. The boys were growing and becoming cramped in the backseat. We had to borrow someone's car just to get lumber or bring a Christmas Tree home. It was a pain. With the upcoming trip to California coming up, we weren't looking forward to cramming everything into our little Taurus (including all of my music equipment for the Cry for Mercy reunion concert) for a long drive and two week trip. But, we were going to do it because we are carefully budgeted and felt that God would provide a good deal for us when the time was right. The other day, Joi called and said she got a flyer for a cheap vehicle that was available at a local dealership. She and her sister went to check it out. Joi maneuvered the budget around and decided that we could only afford about $150 a month for a payment. The dealership thought that they could do something for us in that price range. They showed her a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan. They let Joi take the car for the afternoon. She went to a mechanic that we trust and had him look at it. He said it was a great deal if they could give it to us for $150 a month. I found the VIN # and looked up the CarFax. We asked for opinions and wisdom from family and friends that we trust. After work, I joined Joi and we looked at the car (which was used with 71,000 miles). After crunching the numbers, they got down to $180 a month. Nope, we said. They crunched again. $169 a month. Nope, we said again. We told them that the max we could do per month was $150 and that we didn't want a loan longer than 5 or 6 years. They got all the way down to $159. We stated again that the max we could do was $150. They said that they couldn't go lower, so we shook hands with them and drove away in our Taurus. We were proud of ourselves for sticking to our guns and not giving in to the sales pressure. We felt good, but a little bit bummed that we weren't in a newer, larger vehicle. On Saturday, the dealer called back and asked if we were able to find the extra $9 in our budget. Again, Joi said no. Last night, they called again. This time they said that they decided to give us to deal we were looking for. They were low on car sales for the month and wanted to make the sale. This time on our terms. So, last night, we went again. I was very on guard and nervous of a bait and switch or some other shenanigans. We went through the process and sure enough, they offered the car to us for $150.86 a month. They lowered the price of the car and upped the price for our trade in. They offered the car to us for about $4000 less then they were originally asking. After our trade in, we will only be paying $9800 for the car. We decided to go for it. So, after several hours of signing papers and asking tons of questions...we drove off in a Dodge Grand Caravan. It's nice. I love the dual passenger air conditioning controls. Joi likes it hot and I like it cold. Now, we can have both. I love the stow-and-go seats. Tons of room for storage. I love the roof rack. It's midnight blue and looks sharp. It's a nice car and finally we can seat seven passengers. So, if anyone comes out to visit, we have a place to put them when we drive somewhere. The boys love it. They are giddy. They are already planning where they will sit for our California trip. We are truly blessed. God provided a serious deal. We weren't really actively looking and this sort of fell into our lap. I'm glad we stuck to our guns and told them that we couldn't afford anything other than $150 a month. I'm glad that they decided to make the deal happen for us. I'm still slightly in shock. We are truly thankful and blessed.