Our New "Baby"

No, Owen isn't here yet despite the fact that I feel like he's going to burst out of me at any second. We just wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family... our MINIVAN!

We've known for a while that we needed to buy a larger family vehicle because there's just no way we'd be able to fit three car seats comfortably or safely in the back of our Ford Taurus. Not to mention that when we travel, which we seem to do quite frequently as we can't host family in our tiny apartment, we have lots of luggage and our double stroller (and sometimes an additional passenger) which leaves our car packed to the gills. We tried to wait as long as possible to save as much money as we could and not be saddled with a car payment needlessly, but we are definitely running out of time and with holiday travel approaching, it seemed like as good as it was going to get. We decided on a Kia because of the fact that we know that they have good warranties & good safety ratings. My sister has a 2006 Kia Sedona and says it's the best car she's had and highly recommended it. So, out of curiosity we drove to a Kia dealer and tested out a 2008 Kia Sedona. Aaron and I both liked it and it suited our needs, but despite the fact that we told the sales guy that we had a strict budget and not to show us anything outside our price range, we come to find out that the van (even though it was in good condition with great mileage) was outside of our price range. Hesitant to get ourselves in over our heads, we haggled with the dealership for HOURS. While he did try to help us get our monthly payments lower, he took advantage of us being first-time buyers and tried to get us to switch our financing to an outside lender with a higher percentage rate & longer term. We liked the van, but ultimately we were frustrated and felt like they weren't as willing to work with us to lower the price due to how much money was in it for them. Both of us were just exhausted and wanted to go home.

We knew that we needed to buy before Christmas because we wouldn't have opportunities until mid-January to find a van otherwise and that was cutting it close to Owen's arrival, and with our pre-approval running out we needed to buy by this past weekend. So, we started looking elsewhere and I called around to a few places. On Thursday we visited a local Hyundai dealership, and armed with more knowledge about how car sales work, I had a very don't-dick-around-with-me, cut and dry, this-is-what-we-are-looking-for-and-nothing-else approach & attitude. This guy was most friendly and generous despite my grouchiness and pulled together some ideas for us to look at. When we pulled in and parked, we just so happened to pull in next to a silver van. Aaron got out and looked at it saying it was nice but betted the price was really high. When we walked in, we were warmly greeted by our sales guy, Michael, and he explained that he'd looked over the vans that I'd found online, one of which was sold and the other he wasn't able to get from the other dealer, but he'd searched all their lots with the specifications I'd given him and he'd found this van he thought was going to be great for us.

Must have been fate. That silver van we parked right next to? Yup, that was the one he'd pulled aside for us. As soon as Aaron and I sat down inside, we just smiled at each other. It was almost like we just "knew"...and I didn't think I'd feel that way about a car ever. Even though the other van at the other dealership was "nice", this was just a completely different feeling. We just fell in love with this van (which for Aaron was an especially tall order as he's been really hesitant to be a man driving a minivan because it's for moms or something...).

Best part about it? It's a 2009 Kia Sedona, so a year newer than the last one, in better condition, AND with almost 20,000 miles LESS than the other van... at what we thought was the same price or less. Turns out it was a little more expensive, but this dealer was willing to work with us because they are less about making a commission and more about sustaining business & making their customers happy. Michael worked and worked with the sales manager to lower the price and despite the fact that it still was a little more than we wanted to spend, we loved this van enough and knew that it was a fantastic deal that we couldn't pass up. Plus they didn't try to sell us on a bunch of crap and weasel us out of using a different lender for our financing. In the end... we ended up walking out of there the proud and scared shitless owners of a new-to-us minivan.

I'll be honest, we haven't received the first payment yet and we are already sweating just knowing we will have a car payment--- a first for both of us as we've owned both our prior cars outright. It's scary making a big purchase like that!! That and it's so new that it's taking time to sink in that it's our car to keep. Now that I've had a few more days to drive it and have hooked up the boys' car seats in it, it's starting to feel more like "home" so to speak... but this is definitely a huge endeavor... the culmination of dipping our toes in the water for a while to finally deciding to take the plunge.

The boys also love the new car and are more than willing to go for rides in it. Jayden spent the first few days telling everyone about his new "silver van". He goes back and forth now saying that sometimes he wants to ride in his van and other times he wants his "red car" (we still have the Taurus). I think it's just going to be an adjustment for all, but we are really enjoying it so far.

Without further ado... here's our new car!!