Cars....Can't live with 'em, Can't live without 'em.

Thursday, June 16th was a very sad day for me. I had to say goodbye to my Ford Escape. Up until the last 2 months, it had been a fantastic car. The 'buca mobile' (as Bird calls it) ran beautifully and was very reliable. It had a lot of space, was good on gas and was a beast in bad weather. I bought the Escape from my aunt and uncle just before they moved to Africa for their missionary work back in December 2006. It had about 60,000 miles on it when I bought it and, when it died, it had reached over 150k. Not a horrible life for a vehicle. So here's what happened:

On Wednesday, June 15th, I was driving home from work when something 'popped' under the hood of my car and the darn thing just about cut off. I couldn't get the RPMs past 1500 and I couldn't go much faster than 20mph. Thankfully I was very close to home and was able to putt the rest of the way to our apartment complex where I was safely able to park it. Under the hood, there was fluid everywhere. After talking to a few family members, we assumed it was the radiator.....It wasn't. The next day, I had the Escape towed to a local Goodyear to get a verdict. Jeff and I were blind sided when we found out that the engine was shot and that it would cost $6,500 to replace. Ouch!

That outcome prompted a WAVE of emotions. I was angry because I had just paid for a bunch of preventative maintenance on the car. I was sad because we honestly didn't have that kind of money to fix it. I was anxious because we really didn't know what we were going to do...

Jeff and I brainstormed with a lot of people in hopes of coming to a responsible conclusion. We decided that it would be best to sell the Escape for whatever we could get (thank God it was paid off) and just buy a new/used car. It was so tough to say goodbye to, what had been, my favorite car.

Thankfully my AMAZING brother, Stephen, works for a car dealership in Warrenton and was able to really help us out...

Out with the old:


In with the new:


Needless to say, I love my new toy! It is a 2009 Chevy Cobalt with only about 22,000 miles on it. Stephen was able to get us a fantastic deal and we are so thankful. It hurts a little to have a car payment again, but at least it is reasonable and I have peace of mind - which you can't put a price on.