Buying My First New Car ("Lady Too")

I told you last time about my little green car, Lady, and my need to replace her.

I researched the replacement possibilities. I wanted a brand new car this time, one with a good size engine, that handles well and looks nice, but not unnecessarily expensive. No Beemers or Lexuses ("Lexi"?) for this gal - I wanted a car, not an income statement.

I considered a newer model Toyota Corolla, but I just couldn’t get excited about it. I looked at the Honda Accord and Civic, Nissan Sentras, and lots of other makes and models of standard four-door sedans. My husband suggested the Chrysler 300. It was bigger than I wanted, but the Chrysler Sebring four-door looked about right, so off we went to the Chrysler dealership.

I drove the Sebring. It is a cute car and it handled well, and the engine was strong, but it felt cramped inside; it wasn’t even as roomy as my smaller Corolla. The salesman -- and my husband -- talked me into "just trying" the Chrysler 300.

I fell in love with the 300 when I drove it. It handles well for a big car. With the V6 engine, it has good "pick up" (and it actually gets the same gas mileage as the 4 cylinder model -- why would anyone even consider the 4 cylinder?!?). It is spacious and comfortable. For a larger car, it has good visibility all around the vehicle. It has a huge trunk for hauling all things kid-related (sports equipment, groceries, band instruments, girl scout cookies...). The one I drove had a sun roof. And it looks pretty cool, too. Part classy mom-car, part gangster-mobile, depending on your angle and mood. (I looked for a solid link for you guys, but all I could find were links to ones for sale, which may or may not be there by the time anyone clicks, so you'll just have to run the Google search for yourself if you don't know, and want to know, what this car looks like.)

The dealership had a few 2007 models still on the lot that they were willing to sell for far less than sticker price (since they were well into the 2008 model year and would be getting the 2009's in before long....). So I got a great deal on a brand new car. I settled on the one in "Cool Vanilla" with a sunroof and only 19 miles on the odometer -- 10 of which I put there on the test drive. And so on January 13, 2008, I bought my first-ever brand new car.

When we went to pick her up, my kids whined the whole way there about how they would miss "Lady" and they couldn’t believe I was really going to get rid of her. I explained I would be giving her to a family friend who had no car, and he would drive her and love her as much as they did. They were somewhat happier knowing that outcome, but still not thrilled.

Then they saw the shiny new "300" and they rode in the very spacious and comfortable back seat with its smooth cool leather seats, the fold-down arm rest / drink holder, and the separate ac/heat vents just for them. They experienced the joy of the sun roof. They immediately got over my little green "Lady." My little girl admitted that "Cool Vanilla" was a pretty good color for a car, even if it wasn't green. My little boy said he loved the new car and she would henceforth be known as "Lady." I call her "Lady Too."

I still miss my little green "Lady" sometimes, but my kids have never mentioned her again.

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