The New Vehicle

I'm sure you've probably realized by now that I have a new vehicle. I did, after all, sell my beloved Blue and I'm certainly not riding the Blonde Adonis (my bicycle) down the Parkway to and from work.  Well, technically speaking, I am still in the process of taking ownership, but in a matter of days, I will in fact be the "owner" of a new vehicle; and by "owner" I mean I'll be making some payments for a few years. Admittedly, I've probably needed a new car for a while; but, when you like to take long and expensive vacations a car payment isn't really at the top of the list of things to add to your monthly expenses. 

Thanks to my mother putting a bug in my granddad's ear and my granddad listening, I was able to purchase my new vehicle which is a Black 2012 Nissan Rogue. My grandfather generously gave me a nice down payment on the car which allowed my payments to be such that I can still tuck some cash away in savings each month. I honestly cannot thank my granddad enough for helping make this possible. His generosity has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion and I feel really blessed that he was willing to help me out in this capacity. It's tough out there for a single girl, y'all! Seriously though, when you are on your own and all home repairs and medical bills, etc. etc. are your responsibility and yours alone, it's hard to come off the money to make a big purchase and this would not have been possible without my granddad and I want y'all and him to know how much I really appreciate his help and generosity. 

Now on to how I came to choose my new vehicle...

Once my granddad told me he was willing to help me out, I suggested we go over to a dealership in Decatur that he is familiar with. I had zero intentions of buying a new car, but knew this dealership also had used cars and thought we could go look and if I found something then maybe I would be able to trade in old Blue for a penny or two. I looked online and discovered two vehicles I was interested in looking at - one was a red 2010 Nissan Rogue and the other was a 2009 Toyota Venza in a brown color. My granddad and I had made plans to go look at them on Saturday, July 20. The Thursday before, I called him to finalize our plans, but by the time I got out of the gym that evening, my mother had emailed to let me know both vehicles had been sold. 

I also had a message from my dad to call him and he told me the same thing, but he also had a solution. He suggested that I go online and look at the vehicles Hertz had for sale. In case you didn't know, Hertz, as well as other rental car companies sell their rental cars after a year or so of use. My parents had bought a car from Hertz not long after they were married and have always said it was one of the best cars they ever owned. My dad had looked online earlier and Hertz had seven or so 2012 Nissan Rogues in either silver or black with varying amounts of miles and features and prices. So, I took a look and decided to reserve a black one in Birmingham which was newer than the one I had planned to look at in Decatur, was also the color I preferred and was at a lower price - what more could you want?

This is how the Hertz program works... it's called Rent To Buy and basically you can reserve a vehicle you are interested in and rent it for three days to determine whether or not you like it. There is no obligation to buy and if you decide not to buy, then you are charged a three-day rental free and if you decide to buy then the rental fee is applied towards your financing. Hertz also offers financing (they work with multiple banks) and they also offer extended warranties that mirror the manufacturer's warranty. Also, if you decide to buy, everything is done online and by phone which is very convenient. 

After driving the vehicle a couple of days, I decided to go ahead with the purchase - not surprising since this newer vehicle drove about 100 times better than old Blue. I logged in to my Hertz account on Saturday and started the process by confirming that I wanted to purchase the car and since then I've been emailing and talking to the folks at Hertz to finalize everything. I received notification today that the final paperwork was headed my way and I expect to receive it tomorrow and will be promptly signing and returning it so that the sale can be final/complete/finished. I have really had a nice experience with Hertz and would definitely recommend them if you are looking to buy a used car. I even applied for financing through them and got a 1.54% interest rate which beat the socks off of the 2.8% I received from my bank. 

I want to once again thank my family for all their help - my mom for putting the bug in my granddad's ear, my dad for bringing Hertz to my attention and my granddad for helping me actually buy the vehicle. I'm really a lucky lady to have these people in my life and without them I wouldn't have these new wheels which shall henceforth be called Bertha.