Adventures of car buying!

Andy and I were so excited that we finally saved up enough money to buy a new vehicle. We wanted a reliable family vehicle that we could go on vacation with as well as have everyday use without worrying about it having problems. We also wanted a lot of room so that we could use it to get stuff from Lowes or throw the bikes, luggage and what-nots in the back. A rack on top was something we also considered since we got rid of our truck over a year ago and I wasn't able to bring my Kayak anywhere without borrowing a vehicle from someone else. Toeing capabilities and 4 wheel drive was also a wonderful commodity for Utah fun and weather.  I would much rather a SUV then a mini-van. Andy did a lot of research on SUVs and we decided to get a Toyota 4Runner. The 4Runner was not too big and not too small. It was jusssst right! :)

We were going back and forth with the idea of getting the third row seating in the very back. We decided to get the third row because we found we don't have to wait to have 3 MORE kids to use the third row. Andy's parents come to Utah once or twice a year and it would be nice to be able to use one vehicle to go have our adventures and if we have even two kids that can't happen. Also carpooling with other friends would be wonderful to have a vehicle that fit 7 instead of 5.  That made it easy for us to start looking for 4Runners. We also knew our budget and that narrowed the year down to a 2006-2009. So Andy watched all the car dealerships in Northern Utah and we also watched KSL.com for the 4Runner with third row seating, in the price range around $20,000 plus or minus a few thousand.

We found two!!! Both prices were amazing compared to other prices that we researched. They were both in Orem, Utah just a block from each other. They were almost identical. Both were silver with only about a few thousand miles of use apart. They both had third row seating. One vehicle was 2006 with a sunroof a little less miles that was selling at a dealership and was very clean, and the other was a 2007 with a DVD player that was privately owned. The privately owned vehicle was a few thousand less so we decided on that one. I admit that Andy and I were a little naive because the dealership said that the sales tax was going to be over 1,300 alone without all the other fees. We thought thought we were getting such a great deal by going with the privately owned couple. Little did we know that we had to pay about the same sells tax when we went to go get the vehicle liceanced and registered. After we heard thats why people want others to put less on the title then they actually buy it for. GEEZ! I never minded sells tax until now :)

However Andy and I still got a better deal on the privately owned vehicle than the dealership one. The only thing we didn't like as much about the private one was, it wasn't near as clean and new looking as the dealership one. The couple took off a couple of hundred so we could go get it detailed so that made the difference for us to get it from them along with it being still over $1,000 cheaper than the dealership not counting the stupid sells tax. 

I forgot to say on the way to Orem we stopped at Carmax in South Jorden to see how much they would give us for my 2002 Ford Focus. Andy and I decided it would be much easier to sell it to carmax or trade than try to sell it ourselves because the engine makes an annoying noise and the engine light is on because of a radiater problem. Carmax and the dealership both said $2,000 so we went with Carmax since we didn't buy from the dealership.

Alyeska came along on our car buying and car selling adventure and she was such a lovely baby the whole time. I'm so glad she likes riding in the car because it was a looooong day. We left before 9 am and didn't get home until 3 or 4 p.m. We went straight to go get it licensed and registered where we found out our bad news about the sells tax LOL and when we got home we got full coverage over the internet. All in a day!

I love my new 4 runner because: it doesn't make funny noises, it has an ipod hookup, I feel taller and more powerful on the road, feels safer in the snow, and it's easier to put Alyeska in the back seat. There are many many more pluses but those are the major benefits that I loved from just these first two weeks of having our new vehicle.

I always have a little connection to my vehicles that I've gotten rid of for one reason or another. I will only miss my ford focus a little. Now I am onto bigger and better!!! :) God has truly blessed us so that we could save up enough money to pay off our new vehicle with no loans.

This is our 4 runner in our garage. Not a fancy picture, just a lazy picture :)

This isn't our vehicle but it gives you an idea of the third row seating. I just didn't feel like opening the garage and taking pics. :)