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Apr. 24th, 2006 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienelleth/exhausted
Let's see, this past weekend I provided emotional support for L, who is just about at the end of her rope for too many reasons to mention, though all of them in and of themselves would be legitimate. Taken together, I am amazed that she is not screaming at people like an insane woman. That was Friday night.
Saturday...I spent the day cleaning house and searching online for Mark's new truck, and doing research as to what truck we should get, new, slightly used, etc. This took all day and most of the evening, believe it or not. We decided that $26,000 was just too damn much for us right now or anytime in the near future, so a new Toyota Tacoma with all the features he wanted was definitely a "no". The problem is, we're both well past our "starving college student" days, whence we bought and drove bare necessity vehicles with more than half their lives already driven. His 1990 Nissan 240SX is so close to death, the Kelley Blue Book value on it in its current condition is $0, no lie. It barely limped through the year, so we have to get Mark something before this next year.
So, Sunday I started researching what might be available in the "slightly used" category for us. (We are pre-approved for our loan, so it's the shopping phase now. Actually, we're pre-approved up to $45,000 for a car! *chokes* Who pays that much, seriously?) Since we really don't have time to go out and shop, the internet it is. And calling every dealer in the valley.
Apparently people don't really get rid of their Tacomas after one or two years of use, at least not the kind we're looking for. And if they do happen to get rid of them, the dealer still wants $18-22,000 for them. Ouch! I was starting to wonder what we were going to have to sacrifice, when God smiled upon me in my searching efforts. I found the ad yesterday, and today we drove the two hours out to the boonies to see and test drive the truck, and then agreed to buy it. Our financial institution is working on the paperwork as I type.
As of next week sometime, Mark will be the owner of a red 2004 Tacoma extended cab, with a 6 foot bed and bed liner, cruise control, AC, power everything, with only 40k miles on it. The man who owned it bought it at the beginning of 2005 on close-out, so he's only had it 14 months. He's retired, and babied the truck so it still looks brand new. We got it for $15,750, which is about $2,000 less than we would have paid at a dealers, if any had popped up for sale. We probably won't get the truck for another week or so, but Mark is ecstatic. And a little wary. It's been three years since he's had a car payment, and we've just paid twice as much for this truck as either of us has ever paid for a car before in our lives. It's a little nerve wracking. I don't know how people do $30k cars with $500/month car payments, I really don't.
Of course, my dream car is a BMW, so who am I to talk? Except I won't be getting that car until I'm much older with a lot more money. Unless I win the lottery between now and then. :)
Let's see, this past weekend I provided emotional support for L, who is just about at the end of her rope for too many reasons to mention, though all of them in and of themselves would be legitimate. Taken together, I am amazed that she is not screaming at people like an insane woman. That was Friday night.
Saturday...I spent the day cleaning house and searching online for Mark's new truck, and doing research as to what truck we should get, new, slightly used, etc. This took all day and most of the evening, believe it or not. We decided that $26,000 was just too damn much for us right now or anytime in the near future, so a new Toyota Tacoma with all the features he wanted was definitely a "no". The problem is, we're both well past our "starving college student" days, whence we bought and drove bare necessity vehicles with more than half their lives already driven. His 1990 Nissan 240SX is so close to death, the Kelley Blue Book value on it in its current condition is $0, no lie. It barely limped through the year, so we have to get Mark something before this next year.
So, Sunday I started researching what might be available in the "slightly used" category for us. (We are pre-approved for our loan, so it's the shopping phase now. Actually, we're pre-approved up to $45,000 for a car! *chokes* Who pays that much, seriously?) Since we really don't have time to go out and shop, the internet it is. And calling every dealer in the valley.
Apparently people don't really get rid of their Tacomas after one or two years of use, at least not the kind we're looking for. And if they do happen to get rid of them, the dealer still wants $18-22,000 for them. Ouch! I was starting to wonder what we were going to have to sacrifice, when God smiled upon me in my searching efforts. I found the ad yesterday, and today we drove the two hours out to the boonies to see and test drive the truck, and then agreed to buy it. Our financial institution is working on the paperwork as I type.
As of next week sometime, Mark will be the owner of a red 2004 Tacoma extended cab, with a 6 foot bed and bed liner, cruise control, AC, power everything, with only 40k miles on it. The man who owned it bought it at the beginning of 2005 on close-out, so he's only had it 14 months. He's retired, and babied the truck so it still looks brand new. We got it for $15,750, which is about $2,000 less than we would have paid at a dealers, if any had popped up for sale. We probably won't get the truck for another week or so, but Mark is ecstatic. And a little wary. It's been three years since he's had a car payment, and we've just paid twice as much for this truck as either of us has ever paid for a car before in our lives. It's a little nerve wracking. I don't know how people do $30k cars with $500/month car payments, I really don't.
Of course, my dream car is a BMW, so who am I to talk? Except I won't be getting that car until I'm much older with a lot more money. Unless I win the lottery between now and then. :)
