Dark Blessings & Buying a New Car Part II

Meet Ai (pronounced Aye Ee) which means ‘love’ in Japanese. Originally I named her Obi, which means heart in Swahili, but that name conjured up Star Wars’ Obi Wan Kenobi, and while Ewan McGregor is a heart throb, that wasn’t what I was going for with this car. Sorry, David!

So, yeah. Ai. How did I come about getting a new car so soon after David purchased Azul? Welllllllll.

If you remember in my previous post, I’d mentioned that both of our cars were on the fritz. We’d paid them off a while ago, and while it felt good not having two car payments, we started exceeding in car repairs what our car payments had been. The last few months we owned them we’d spent quite a few thousand dollars on repairs before we decided it was time to trade them in.

At first we thought yeah, we can buy two new cars, but after doing research we realized that two cars were going to exceed the payment total we’d made previously on Tig and Volks. Sooooo. We traded in my beloved Volks (which means Folks -to me, family) for David’s new car, Azul.

But wow, Jon Guzman our salesman at Subaru in Utica was SO AMAZING. He did such an awesome job with David that I knew I wanted to buy my next car from him. Even if I had to wait a while.

We decided that we were going to sell Tig pretty cheaply to the shop we’d taken to fix it, but then one night I had one of those 3 a.m. epiphanies. If we had them fix what was wrong we could trade it in and use that as a down payment. And still come out ahead of the game.

So we did. And because of that late-night-I-can’t-sleep-moments, my Impreza came into our lives.

We’d thought about Subarus for a while. Our kids have Subarus and Toyotas, and we had Volkswagens. We went back and forth considering our needs and eventually realized Subaru was where we belonged.

After David bought Azul, I fell in love with the Subaru concept. Everyone at the dealership is amazing, and it even has a PET WAITING ROOM for customers. I know, we don’t have our own furbaby anymore, but still, how cool is that? This way, if we are ever babysitting Miso (our furgrandpup) I can schedule my oil and filters and not worry about leaving him home alone. THAT made me want a Subaru even more. Silly, but still. They are selling family, and feelings and emotions and happiness, not cars. I like that. I bought into it totally.

I’d test driven an Impreza the day David had test driven a Crosstrek, but I really didn’t like it. I only wanted a black model, trying to replace Volks, I guess. It turns out the black Impreza I test drove just didn’t feel right. I felt like I was driving a young guy’s car. It felt too sleek, too hip for me.

Ant (my son), was totally shocked when I called him that night. He owns an Impreza and thought for sure it would be a perfect match for me. He suggested I give the Impreza another try and when I did . . . I fell in love. Hence the name Ai.

My sis, Jeana, went with me to test drive a smokey grey Impreza Sport the following Friday. It was just a test drive to see if I liked the model, and if I did Jon would call me when he found a black version of it.

But the car I drove it was GREY (as in Janina GREY) and it felt like it was made for me. I was sold.

I picked it up the next day! That’s how great a salesman Jon is. He knew what I wanted and he did everything in his power to make it happen. HE IS AMAZING. If you’re looking for a car, go to Subaru in Utica. Ask for Jon. He will take care of you!

Oh, speaking of going to Subaru. Did I mention I get FREE oil and filters. Twice a year!

After I took my new car has so many bells and whistles, I was totally overwhelmed by it all. David helped me sort out how to start and stop it, how to use the signals, and how to turn the windshield wipers and radio on. After that, I was lost.

So Subaru sent me a guru, set me up with an appointment, and within the week I was back at the dealership sitting with Valon in my car, learning all the ins and outs of being a Subaru owner. That’s another great aspect of Subaru— they give you a Subaru Guru to help you figure out how to drive your car.

So yeah. It was difficult saying goodbye to Tig and Volks. We had a lot of great memories with them. And normally we drive our cars until we retire them to the old junk cars graveyard. But this time was different.

I’ve only owned one brand new car before in my life. It was a VW Golf my ex, Tom, and I bought right after we got married. That was another car that had some great memories. After that we became a Ford family, buying a few slightly used Aerostars (Goddess, I loved those things!) and then four Ford Taurus’ before we went back to VW.

I love it. I feel slightly spoiled and pampered that we have not one but TWO new cars. But with using Tig and Volks as trade ins, and putting down a big chunk for a down payments, we did it. Besides, it’s just a little more expensive than what we were paying monthly for Tig and Volks. So now, we won’t be able to go to Toka Bocca every week anymore, but hey. It’s worth it.

We are blessed. Some of those blessings are dark blessings. Some are bright. But undoubtedly we give thanks for all the blessings that come our way. Because in the end, it makes our life what it is, and I wouldn’t change this life for the world. Thanks, David.

So, moral for today. Face your dark times head on. Without a doubt, something good will come out of it.

Trust me.