Just Bought a Car

We decided a while ago that we needed a new car. Or rather, I decided that I wanted one, because my wife needs the car all the time for work and although I bike to work sometimes, I definitely won’t be biking all winter long (yes I know, Vancouver isn’t THAT cold) and I’d like to be able to go get groceries or drive to visit my parents or do any variety of things even if my wife is out using her car. I’ve been taking the bus for about 4 years now and although I enjoy it because of the amount of reading it allows me to do, I want to get home a bit quicker sometimes without cutting into my work day.

For the past few weeks we have been looking at the 2009 Matrix as well as a few similar cars such as the 2008 Yaris Hatchback and Mazda 3. All of these cost around $20,000 including everything. It was such a big purchase that we couldn’t decide on what to get but I think we were leaning towards the Matrix. I decided to check out the Buy & Sell one day and I scanned for old Tercels, Echos, and Corollas. I eventually found a 1997 Tercel Sedan for $2700. It’s better on gas than my wife’s little car from 1997 and also better than the 2009 Matrix. I checked it out after a test drive I gave the guy $100 as a deposit and shook on it. The only downside is that it has 230,000 km on it but I really don’t see that as a problem. It has had a single owner, no accidents, and he has maintained it well. This car will last at least another 10 years. I’ve never bought a new car before (my previous vehicle’s were at 1985 Tercel and a 1986 Tercel) but I really wanted to this time. I’m so glad we didn’t $20,000 on a new car when there are so many perfectly good old cars out there.