Our New Car!

Yesterday, we finally drove home in our (well, primarily Mike's) new car! It's a beautiful, black Mazda CX-9.

We have shopped for a while for a new car. We knew we wanted something bigger. We've been toting so much gear, and occasionally cats, to NH that our tiny little cars have just not been cutting it. Since a family is likely in our future and this car will be around for the next 5-7 years, we also wanted a car that could fit at least 4 adults and one kiddo (for when grandparents come to town). The CX-9 has the optional 3rd row seating that allows for that. It also rides really nicely, has all wheel drive for our long winter here and was, aesthetically, my favorite in this category of available cars.

Of course, nothing seems to be without drama and difficulty in life. First issue was financing. We really shouldn't have had any problems but we preferred to go through our credit union because they had the best rate. However, even though we have a joint account there, Mike's the lead name on it so he had to qualify for a loan. Apparently, working at a temporary job was held against him and we were denied. So, I got a loan through Mazda. The rate wasn't as great but still decent. The second issue was that we were unable to locate the title to Mike's car. Have NO idea where it could be....we scoured the entire house. To get a copy from the RMV, we just needed a letter from the lien holder stating we had paid off the loan. The problem there? We don't know who the lien holder was! The account Mike paid the car off through has been closed and we couldn't access the information on it. So, about 5 phones calls to too many automated numbers later, we found the source and are still working to get the dealership the title.

The good side to all of this is that we left the dealership feeling as if we got a great deal! That never seems to happen. The down economy, mixed with 2008 models they want to get off the lot and my mad bargaining skills (at least I like to think that went into play) got us a big chunk off invoice and a great price on the trade in. Yay me!

We're hoping to test out the all wheel drive and gear storage capabilities on our first ski trip this weekend!