10 Years

Its been 10 years since I went shopping for a new car.  A lot has changed.  I realized my taste in cars has also changed.

I purchased my Expedition in 2005 and the following year, they changed the body styles for the Ford SUV's.  Instead of the large box, they made them sleeker.

I never like the new style so I stayed away.  I paid off my Expedition and kept driving it.  It was the first car I've every driven that I never wanted to give up.  It never required any major repairs.  I changed the brakes a couple of times and the tires when needed.  Got the oil changed and basic services at required intervals.  The perfect car.

And then I got an itch.  I pulled up next to the new Explorer and I totally wanted it.  I think my Expedition knew what I was thinking.  Immediately, things went wrong.  The motor on the back passenger side window stopped working.  Someone hit the side view mirror while I was parked at work and cracked it.  Someone bummed into my front and dented the corner.  The defrost didn't really defrost anything.  The AC needed work.  We started adding up the cost to repair some of these things and realized I could put a down payment on another car.

So we did.  I test drove several cars including the Explorer XLT and the Nissan Xterra.  Both cars I really liked but the Ford won out in the end.  I wasn't impressed with the Nissan guys and they were trying to get me to buy a car in a color I didn't like.  I tried to explain to them that I wanted a specific color.  Nope, they kept trying to get me to take the silver Xterra.  In the end, I walked out and went to Ford.  They've been good to me for my last 2 cars and my husbands 2 Fords so we went back.

I sat on the decision for almost 2 weeks before I found my color at one of the dealerships.  It was hard to trade in Big Blue but I did.  I did cry because that was my car.  I bought that car when we started trying for a family.  We were looking for 2-3 kids and I knew I'd need a big car.  (We also bought the big house for the same reason.....)  Turns out, we had 1 kid.  I had a big car and no one to drive around in it.  

The Explorer is the perfect size.  Still has the third row and enough room to fit the hockey equipment.    

 Hello. Goodbye.

 I love the color.  Magnetic.  Not black and not silver.  A dark grey.  Perfect.