You know when one thing goes wrong it’s like a million things go wrong?

Well I feel like that happens to us all.the.time. And right before, or was it right after, Christmas was no exception. Andy was on his way to cut firewood with my dad in our Suburban and they got home way to soon. Something had to be wrong. Oh and it was…they were lucky to have made it back home. The Suburban broke down on their way and they had to turn around and come home. We knew the Suburban was going to need a new motor sooner or later, I mean it’s a freaking ’89 for cripe’s sake, but we were banking on the “later” part. Anyway, off to the mechanic it went. And stayed for a few weeks. We were, thankfully, able ot bandaid it and put of the new motor for at least a few more months.

That same weekend, we were told by our renters that there was a leak in the roof of the house. Well, eff. The leak pretty much ruined the new laminate flooring Andy had JUST installed in July before they moved in. Luckily, he was able to pretty easily fix the leak and the floor doesn’t really need to be replaced, it’s just a little bit warped in one spot.

Well, then, right after we got the Suburban back from the mechanic’s I went to start and warm up our ’88 Buick {seriously, y’all, I told you we be glamorous high rollers} in the morning before work. I noticed it did sounds like it normally did. I headed back in the house to grab my stuff and give kisses goodbye only to come back outside to find the Buick not running. What the whaa? So naturally, I tried to start it again. No dice. So to the mechanic the Buick went.  {Side note, our mechanic freaking loves us}

At this point it was right before the end of the year and not knowing what the deal was with the Buick we started talking about getting a new car. Could we afford it right now? We haven’t had a car payment since a month after we were married, so that’d be a major adjustment. But, my student loan would be paid off within the next 3 months, so well…could we really afford it? We decided we better wait to hear back from the mechanic before making any decisions.

But, being the dreamer I am, I was on Toyota’s website looking at new cars the next day.

Here’s our {or my} requirements for a new car/Buick remplacement:

• Must get good gas milage-right now the Buick gets 27 miles/gallon.
• Since the Buick is currently Andy’s main daily driver and I normally just drive it on his days off/summer/winter break, this would be a car for him. So a new car can’t be anything lame and…not manly. {granted, he’s been rolling in an 88 Buick Le Saber for the last 3 years, so anything will be a step up, but he draws a hard line at the smart car!}
• We rarely let Rylee ride in the Buick, so it’d be nice to have another “kid friendly” vehicle.
• It’s gotta be budget friendly…we haven’t had a car payment in a long time. Lots of “things” have happened since then in regard to finances in our house. Will Andy still have is “head teacher” position next year? Because if not, that’ll be a reduction in pay. Oh and there’s the minor detail that we’re having another kid! so yea…budget friendly is a must.
• It has to last…I mean duh, we have an 89 suburban and an 88 buick and right now our newest car is a 2004. We keep the vehicles around for a while.

Ok, so based on our criteria I’m thinking, when the time comes to replace the Buick, we’ll be looking at something along the lines of a Corolla or Matrix on the lower end or, maybe we’ll even think hybrid {I mean the man does drive 70+ miles a day}…and go with the surprisingly affordable, family friend Prius V.

Image Source: http://www.toyota.com/priusv/

At this point it’s just a waiting game, but let’s hope when the Buick does make it’s last ride, that’ll be the ONLY thing that goes wrong.

{And by last ride, I mean I’ll be throwing a party and doing a happy dance}

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.