Saturday, August 31, 2013

Car Shopping

There's nothing like going car shopping to learn your spouse in a new way.  And by that, I mean that Isaac learned a lot about me, bless him. 

Isaac has had the same car his whole driving career, and the car has been in his family for 20 years.  Meet Irvin, a 1993 Mitsubishi Diamante:

Irvin has served two generations of Ozingas so well.  Thanks to Isaac's hard work, he has over 300,000 miles on him and runs like a charm.  He might not look so spiffy anymore, but he has been a great car.  However, he was rear-ended in the Spring, and Isaac started wanting a car with a third row in our family.  We want to be able to take around youth group kids more easily, have room for our nieces AND the dogs, and have a car that my parents, grandparents, and we can all ride in at once.  We both got raises this year, so after a lot of prayer, we decided to trade in Irvin for a new-to-us car.

Isaac spent a lot of time comparing CUVs and SUVs online.  He knew he wanted to be higher off the ground than a car, but didn't want a huge SUV.  While Jacob was here last week, they went and test drove several cars to narrow his list down to two options.  On Friday, he took me to see these cars. 

This is when the spouse lessons began.  He learned I'm a brand snob.  I love Toyota, and despite their occasional flaws, I'm loyal.  I like big, gas guzzling, steel loaded, rough and tumble tanks.  Isaac had to mention that he had seen an H1 (military style Hummer) on a car lot while with Jacob.  That about did me in.  Grr.  Someday.  I'd much rather have a Sequoia if we're moving Isaac to an SUV.  It's built on a Tundra frame, so it drives like a truck.  Of course, I'd be totally ok being a two truck family.  Sarge needs a friend!  And, Isaac said no.  He's my practical, always thinking husband, keeping me from blowing the budget on gas each month.  Boo.  Isaac had me test drive a Nissan Pathfinder, which I loved.  Um, it's built on a Frontier (small truck) frame, so it drove like a truck.  However, we found a Mazda CX9 that's in mint condition.  It's got a 3rd row and is certainly larger than a car.  It's beautiful, sleek, and classy, everything I shy away from in a vehicle.  Isaac fell in love.  And after a drive, (and getting to keep it over night), I decided I could be a fan of it too.  Not to mention the Mazda folks were going to give us $1500 for Irvin, and he's not worth that much, despite the fact that he could probably run another 5 years easy.

So, apparently Labor Day Weekend is a great car buying weekend.  Six years ago, before I even really knew Isaac, I brought home this beast:

And this year, Isaac brought home this beauty:

Thank You, Lord for safe vehicles for our family!  And for really good deals on both of them.  Seriously, the dealerships always lose money when we come around.  LOTS of money.  

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