Out with the old, In with the NEW CAR!

David and I have been planning (since before we found out we were pregnant) to buy a new vehicle this year. My car had served its purpose for me for 5 years (I got it in 2011), but it was definitely time for an upgrade. It was a very basic model. 5-speed manual transmission, no A/C, no power-locks, no power-windows, no power-mirrors... no power anything! One thing it had going for it was great gas mileage!

I will miss my little car, but it started acting up last week, and looks like the battery decided to die. We had done tons of research on vehicles and figured we'd need an SUV with the option for 7 seats... and A/C. Our dream-mobile was the Hyundai Santa Fe XL, but it was sitting a ways out of our price range. I did some finagling with our budget, and found out we could possibly get a 0% interest rate on the vehicle. I realized we were paying interest on David's student loans, and we have decided to use much of our savings to pay that off to avoid the interest there.

We would then use more of our savings to put a down payment on our car, and be making bi-weekly payments for 5 years with 0% interest and be done with it! 

We were planning to go to the cabin this past weekend, and were hoping to get our car before then. It took lots of planning, a few visits to the dealership, many times going over our budget (so much uncertainty with maternity leave and David's work), and much discussion! Eventually, we decided to purchase our new mobile. 

2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL. The BASE MODEL comes with all sorts of fancy features (which I really don't care about, but whatever)... A/C, heated seats, blue-tooth, back-up camera, satellite radio, three drive modes (sport, eco and normal), and probably many more things that I don't know/care about!

We picked up our car Thursday (June 30) and were on the road to go to the cabin by 2:45pm! That's the best way to break in a new vehicle.

Wow. What a drive. I never knew how comfortable and smooth that drive could be. And how safe it could feel! I've never felt safer driving the Hope-Princeton. I'm so grateful to have this large, reliable vehicle for when we bring our little baby home! (Especially since it will be winter-time). 

I'm sure David would have more things to say about our car... but there probably aren't many boys reading, or women who care about the specs of the car. Google has them if I ever decide I need to look them up! Haha. 

For the ladies out there... the colour is called Iron Frost, it has 7 seats (back two fold down for trunk space), it has heated seats, and we purchased extra appearance insurance package so the dealership will fix any rock chips, scratches, dents, stains on the seats, etc.!!! That's the important stuff!

Oo... sparkly and new!

I never thought I'd buy a new car. I don't care about new things. This was the most practical decision for our family right now, and this vehicle should last us a really long time! Can't wait to bring home baby in it! 

Here are some stock images from Google to give you an idea of the inside:

Our seats are actually a grey fabric, not tan leather. It gives you an idea of how much space we have though!

The front dash area. 

If you fold down all 5 of the back seats, you get TONS of trunk space.

Even if you just fold down the back two! We can easily fit the dog crate back there, and a stroller/playpen and other things that come with babies! :)