The new car!

After weeks of looking and saving, we finally bought our first new car last night! We test drove three cars the weekend before, a VW beetle, a Toyota 4-runner, and Mini-Cooper. The prices were all similar (20-25k), but the range of sizes brought jokes and remarks like, "Are you sure Lucy will fit in that (bug and cooper)?" Believe me, Lucy was tired of hearing those!

The list of cars was narrowed to two after talking it over with each other. The beetle and 4-runner made the cut. Both dealerships had good deals - The VW had 0% financing for three years and Toyota had a $2,000 rebate.

After finagling w/ the sales person, the bug could be had for 22k after taxes, tags, insurance, etc. It's the 'level 2 package' - leather seats, 17" wheels, sunroof, satellite radio (and a few other small things). The 0% really helps save us money though. The 4-Runner would have a final cost around 26k after everything. It's the basic model (not the 'limited') - no 4-wheel drive, leather, etc.

For anyone who doesn't live in SC, we have a GREAT 'sales tax cap' on new cars. It doesn't matter if the car cost 10k or 100k, you will only pay $300 for taxes!!!! While listening to a sales person describe the car, he quickly blew by this fact probably thinking we already knew about the advantage, but I immediately stopped and questioned, "What sales tax cap?" He mentioned lots of people from GA and NC come to SC to buy their new car due to them saving thousands in taxes. Anyway....back to the car report.

Lucy has been wanting a bug forever and after seeing her 'build her own' on the VW website for the 100th time, I said, "Just get one!" Since it's 0%, we'll have it paid off without paying a dime of interest. The sales people were the nicest and easiest to work with of any dealership we went to, and they had a black 'level 2' which worked for me (I told Lucy I couldn't drive yellow, pinks, greens, or any color that reminded me of Easter).

Our monthly payments are low enough that we'll finish paying for the car in three years. I never thought I'd be driving around a little beetle (with two dogs sitting in my lap) so if anyone sees me, you can't laugh! Seriously, it's a nice car and I'm proud to own my first new ride (my Grand Prix was a used car when I bought it). And with it with it being black, the car will look good w/ a red UGA magnet on the side though. GO DAWGS!