Our New Car

Note: This car is new to us as of last summer.

Since moving out to California, Katie and I have hung close to our beloved 1995 Geo Prizm with 215,000 miles on it. It’s been a fantastically reliable car, but over time it’s created a series of minor issues:

  • The rear right shoulder belt does not work
  • The rear windows don’t roll down easily.
  • The trunk has a lip that makes it hard to put things inside it.
  • The “fill up the gas now” light is burned out.

I had been slowly setting aside some money each month in an effort to buy a new car. A friend of mine who works close to my office mentioned he’s looking to sell his 2007 Prius with very few miles on it. We were sold.

We were originally looking at the Elantra, the Fit and other cars in that class. A used Prius from a friend made our decision easier since it was a step up in class and It came with a ton of creature comforts:

  • Rear camera
  • A fairly decent navigation system
  • A decent audio system
  • It’s apparently a hybrid gas/electric vehicle
  • It’s got a lot of storage space.
  • LATCH system for carseats (almost all cars post 2000 have this)

So we’re hoping we can hang on to this car as long as we had our Prizm (9 years, but it’s been in the family since new).