2.26.2013

T.I.L. #5

Y'all remember when I mentioned I'd been payin' off debt aggressively? Well, I took 2 steps back in this area around Thanksgiving. Hear me out though. I think you'll find that it was probably needed(?)



This Toyota Camry has been an amazing ride. She's been with me for 12 years and I got this car right after I graduated from college. You see, I'd only had one car previously and its name was Doo-Doo Brown. Partly because my last name is Brown, partly because it was a brownish color, but mostly because it was a piece of poo. Many weekend nights my friends & I would drive by my lonely car chillin' in the school parking lot because it wouldn't start. It served me well my freshman year at A&M and I am grateful. Oh, I definitely abused ol' Doo-Doo Brown. I once parked it in 'Fish Lot' way across campus for 2 weeks and when I retrieved it, it was covered in bird poop (Doo-Doo White?) Seriously, A&M parking lots are like scenes from horror flicks involving crazed birds! In fact, there was so much bird poo that I ran into a pedestrian (thankfully he jumped out of the way just in time). He took one look at my car after cussing and started laughing.

On my way back down my sophomore year {with my sissy transferring in! yay!}, ol' Doo-Doo died on the side of I-35 near Waco. I called my dad to deal with it and I never saw it again. We high-tailed it in my sister's car the rest of the way and shared her car for a couple more years until graduation.

So, as you can see, the one-year old Camry was the fanciest thing I'd ever driven. And I drove her to the ground (kind of):





Once I hit that mark, I decided it was time to get another ride. I was losing hubcaps by the hour and maintenance costs started to add up. I didn't want to buy a new car because I am soooo close to being debt free (I would make an exception for a house though...doesn't count to me). But rather than hold on to this idea I'd had, I decided to start looking for something I'd love as a replacement. I had a list of things I liked, didn't like, and didn't care about. I searched some lots and found them to be just awful. Horrible deals, high pressure sales, and they treated me like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, only I was flaunting good credit, not a wad of hooker cash. It was ridiculous.

Thankfully, a friend's wife saw my plea on Facebook and directed me to her husband's new business: Sign It Drive It. He basically FINDS the car you are looking for and gives you a great deal on it. No pressure. No gimmicks. No shady business.

I know Jake's family and his business partner seems like a great guy. They are a local small dealership but waaayyyy better than any of the other guys. Please give Jake a call if you are in the market for a car. Here's what he found for me:

Haha, nope. That's what I traded in...here's the slightly pre-owned ride I'm sporting now:

It's a 2012 Nissan Rogue (note the spelling...the 'other' dealer before Jake kept writing Rouge. I couldn't help but call it that after seeing him write it so many times!) It ha(d) 6,700 miles on it until I got a hold of it.

And I absolutely enjoy driving it. And it has 4 hubcaps. And room to carry crap around. And it's fully loaded (which I didn't care to have before...but is it wrong that I now use my seat warmers as a heating pad after a long day?)

Before (oxidation and rust suit her well, don't ya think?):
 After:
I mean no disrespect to Camry-girl, but this car is Bad-A! I can officially say I like driving now. So boo to all you high school folks who didn't understand why I was nervous about highway driving. When your car shakes above 55 mph, you'd be scared too. Now I have to be careful that I don't go 90! Anyway, I waited to share the news in case Jake sold me a lemon. Which he didn't...and he wouldn't. But now it's official: