Last year, we spent the day before Mother's Day at the auto mall.
I had been driving a Dodge Caravan for almost 15 years, having bought our first one the day before Alaina was born and the second when Eric was two. Now that our kids were older--we hadn't needed a stroller in years--we were ready for something smaller.
We ended up trading the 2010 Caravan in for a compact SUV, a 2019 Hyundai Tucson, which was much nicer and more fuel efficient. A few days later, however, the engine light came on. Our Tucson was a "certified used car," so I thought nothing could be seriously wrong, but long story short, it needed an engine replacement, which took TWO MONTHS because two car dealerships couldn't agree on who was responsible for paying the almost $10,000 bill (i.e., not us). In the meantime we drove a grungy rental car, provided by the GM dealership where we'd bought the Tucson.
Finally, we picked up our car from Hyundai, complete with new engine--and we spent the next 8 months thinking it was pretty great. We loved its heated seats (front and back!) and its compact size, which made it easy to park--in fact, Janae learned to parallel park and back in (our first backup camera!) in this car, then passed her road test on the first try.
I can't say it was my dream car, because I don't really dream about cars, but we were happy with it. Our auto mechanic, on the other hand, was extremely unimpressed that we'd bought a Hyundai--and was pretty vocal about it when we took it in for an oil change. He thought we should have consulted with him and got a better car, but with a brand-new engine, we thought we'd be okay for a long time.
Fast forward to March 31 when the car was hit by a truck. The insurance company deemed it a total loss and issued a cheque for the resale amount--where we would lose around $14,000.
We started looking at cars (while driving a 2025 Mazda CX-5 rental), and there wasn't much in our price range that we liked. Remembering what the mechanic had said about the Hyundai (and also the engine replacement that we'd likely have to pay for on another one), I told Jason, "I don't want to buy another car unless we check with Lee (the mechanic) first." Lee, of course, thought losing the Tucson was a blessing in disguise--probably the best thing that could have ever happened to us--since it was such a “substandard” car. He told us what we needed was a Toyota RAV4 and that we should look out of town.
The next day or so, I found a 2018 RAV4 in a nearby town. The price and mileage were good, so we sent a picture to Lee, and he said (and I quote), "Your Hyundai was a 3/10, but this car is a 10/10."
I went alone to test drive it. It seemed pretty solid, although not as nice looking as our Tucson. Even though it was only one year older, it seemed about 5 years older with outdated dials and switches, a very clunky gear shift, and kind of a beaten-up look inside ... but I knew it was a 10/10, so I decided to buy it. (By the way, this is the first time I have completed an entire car purchase on my own!)
We discovered a few hours later that the Bluetooth didn't work, so that has meant multiple trips back to the car dealership (out of town, remember?), now with a new radio system on order so I can drive back again and hopefully get the car to connect to our phones.
Submitting all the receipts from both car purchases, though, we got extra money from our supplemental insurance policy that will pay off the down payment on the Toyota and the extra we will have to pay every month for six years for this stellar vehicle.
But the bottom line: we now have a RAV4.
Our mechanic is happy, and I'm feeling good about having a car that was built to last--although I do miss the Tucson.
But once again, I can't say it's everyone's dream car. Alaina, in particular, hates it because it's "not a pretty car” like the Tucson (she and I aren’t mechanics!).
Hopefully she'll feel better in a few months when she starts learning to drive on it....
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