One of the things that surprised us during our transition this Summer was buying a car. It became an option when we realized our time in the USA was extending and we would be traveling back to Texas.
Rather than rent a car one way to Texas, and again in Texas to get around locally, we thought about buying a car and selling it if we were to leave the country. We had a modest budget of US$5,000 to spend on the car, and was hoping to get a Chevrolet HHR--a car we knew that fit us well before leaving Texas in 2011.
However, there were few examples in Iowa to look at, so I simply planned on waiting until we got into DFW to shop for one.
But days before leaving Iowa, Monica's brother who works in a car dealership told us a bout a car that just came in on a trade in. The numbers sounded right, but it scared me a bit because it was a lot more car than I was planning to buy--what were the trade offs?
A few days later, we went to his dealership for a look and I was dumb-struck. It was the proverbial cream puff! Few miles for its age, maintained by a former mechanic proactively. In almost mint condition. Because of our connection with my brother-in-law, we were given the car at thousands below market value.
As we drove away and down to Texas, it was obvious that this was a luxurious ride for the money, but it seemed a bit excessive. We did not *need* to have such a large vehicle, but about a month later, we would get to give rides to college kids arriving at Baylor as part of helping them settle in their transition!
