Car Shopping

John had a scary moment on Tuesday evening. On his way home from work he spun out on the icy highway during rush hour. Luckily, he didn't get hurt or hit another car. He did, however, total the truck.

We had been saving up for a new vehicle purchase but didn't anticipate this sudden need for a car. Over the last few months we had talked about and researched the kind of vehicle we would like to purchase. So, this morning, after spending much time on the Internet Christmas day searching for deals, John prepared himself for our first used car purchase ever.

Coffee in hand he went to Jack Maxton Used Cars to find us a Trailblazer.

John test drove this baby blue 2006 Trailblazer to Eddie, our mechanic, who thought the car was like new (only 15500 miles)...in great shape and well taken care of... in other words a great deal. Next, he brought it home for the rest of us to inspect. We loved it. Then it was time to take the car back to the dealership for some negotiating. Unfortunately, they were not willing to come down to our offer.

We moved on to Ricart. This time we all went along.

While John talked to the salesman the kids had fun running up and down the ramps and stairs.

Here's the red 2006 Trailblazer we took a look at. This car had 36000 miles on it and they wouldn't let it go for less than the previous car we looked at. We didn't need much time to think that over.

After lunch at McDonalds and talking through what our next step would be, we stopped at another car dealership. They didn't have anything in their inventory. Meanwhile, Nicholas took a nap and Clara and Monica relaxed in the car.

After thinking through our options we realized there was only one smart thing to do. Go back to the bank and take out the additional money we would need to buy the baby blue Trailblazer. We knew it was an exceptional deal. So, here it is in its new home...