finally.....

i got me a new ride.

all of you probably know my car was totaled a little over a week ago outside my boyfriend's place in the city. my poor baby was parked on the street minding its own business (yeah, i'm not referring to ben, i'm totally referring to my sunfire), when some idiot hit it pretty hard and rendered it undrivable.

thursday i did some test driving at a dealer in collinsville IL called Accent Auto. (Gregg Neeman is the owner. if anyone is looking for a car, i'll send you their number. promise you will not be disappointed.) the first car i drove was an '01 mustang, and that thing was sweet. i tried to call my dad twice while cruising down the highway in this beast, but he didn't answer. so ben heeded the call that went something like "I HAVE TO HAVE THIS CAR!!!!", followed by a lot of awesomes. then dad called and broke my heart, telling me the insurance would be unreal and the gas mileage would be bad... just an overall "i don't think this is such a good idea".

i took that baby back to the dealer and then drove an '02 sunfire, which is the same car i was driving before, except two years newer. it was a comfortable drive, since i was used to it. i called my dad to let him know i was interested in it, and he put a call into mom. unfortunately my grandma was taken to the hospital that day, so it put a hault on things.

the next day i put in for a loan and got approved, for about $1,000 less than what the sunfire was going to cost me. my awesome parents said they'd front me the cash until i got my tax refund back and we'd go ahead and get the car.

this morning i actually got to sleep in and had a great wake up call, then ran over to my parents to get the plan rolling. my mom was already planning on heading to the insurance agency and said she'd go ahead and get the insurance rolling on the new car for me, or at least get a quote. while she was doing that, dad and i were going to the dealership to drive the sunfire before making a deal.

that's what we did. kinda.

we drove the sunfire and dad said it was a pretty good deal. it had some blinker issues and a squeak in the front end, plus needed to have the door hinges replaced. we took that back and had a purchase order written up. during that time, we were shooting the breeze with gregg, who is really cool. he was talking about the mustang and i mentioned that i had taken it for a spin and it was really cool, but i didnt' think i could afford the insurance and the gas on it. he told me that his dad is driving the same exact car as the 'stang, and it was currently getting 32 mpg. that's really good. i said my old sunfire had been getting about 26-28mpg and gregg said the mustang would get at least that. then i thought, 'i've got to get my dad to drive this thing down the road once, and he'll see why i really want it'. and my plan worked. i believe my dad's exact line was "the only thing that could make this car cooler is if it were a stick shift". and he's right.

when we got back, gregg wrote up a purchase order for the mustang as well and said he wouldn't sell either until we got back with him. we ran up to the insurance company and had a quote done. full coverage insurance on the mustang was $20 cheaper monthly than insurance on the sunfire. what a cool deal! state farm also ran a loan through for me and said it would more than likely be approved on monday morning. doubly sweet.

so i got the insurance started on the stang and went back to Accent Auto. i told gregg what was going on and he said "well, if you want it today, just write me a dummy check and take it". yup, that's how cool this guy is. (of course, we're repeat customers.) a couple of checks between saturday morning and saturday afternoon, and i got to drive my parents to a late lunch in a super cool car.

needless to say, i'm excited and promise to post pictures of my becky-proclaimed "sexy. that thing's just sexy" car. alas, right now i cannot. but soon. wooooohooooo!!

have a lovely weekend. hopefully i'll be back to post tomorrow.