Exciting Car News

So as many of you may know, Shea and I have been thinking about getting a new car for a while now. Shea has a 12 year old Corolla - while it runs okay, it is very small (i.e. you have to push the passenger seat completely forward in order to be able to fit Truman's carseat in the back, thereby making it impossible for more than 1 adult to ride in it). Then, a few weeks ago, Shea went to open the door and heard a crack, with the result being that you could no longer open the front door from the inside. He was fine with that for a while, just opening the window and reaching his hand outside in order to open the door. Then, however, the window started sticking, so he would open the window in order to open his door but then be unable to close the window - not very convenient! Still, we were making it work. Then a couple of days ago Shea was driving home from daycare with Truman and noticed that the carseat was moving a little bit around. Apparently the seatbelt used for the carseat was having difficulties staying tightened - it stopped locking when the car was on. Well, we were willing to live with a little inconvenience to us adults, but an unsafe baby is not an option around these parts. Anyway, long story short, we decided to get a new car!

After a couple of weeks of looking at our options, we had it narrowed down to a used CR-V, Rav4, or Santa Fe. We are both very big fans of Honda's (we've always just preferred the way they drive) but weren't sure if we could afford the slightly higher payments. Then my mom casually asked, "Have you ever thought about leasing?" We both brushed the idea off, being very unfamiliar with the process. Well, a couple of days ago we decided to just see what leasing even meant. We went on Honda's website and saw that they were having a VERY good deal on 2010 CR-V's (probably trying to get them off the lot to make room for the new 2011's). We looked at our budget (yes, new daycare and baby costs have forced us to create an actual budget - blah!) and realized that leasing a new car would be more financially feasible for us than buying a used car - who knew? So today we went on down to the Honda dealership to look around, and after much back-and-forth bargaining and threatening to walk out, we ended up getting a great deal on a beautiful 2010 CR-V. Yay! I'm not sure if Shea and I had ever even sat in a brand new car, and then today we got to drive home with one - very exciting! We love the extra space we'll have (it will make traveling to NY with a baby much more comfortable!) and feel so much better about Truman being in 2 safe cars. Woohoo!