New Car

For my job, I drive 500-700 miles a week. With the gas prices as high as they were over the summer, it was extremely difficult being able to afford $4.00 a gallon. By October, I was sick of our '02 Grand Prix.

We started looking at getting a Toyota Corolla. Since I work up in Waukegan, I drove about 20 miles farther north to go to the Carmax in Kenosha, WI. I went on a test drive of the Corolla and really loved it. I had figured out the financials in a spreadsheet to figure that we would save money each month by buying a Corolla. With the savings in gas and repair costs, the change would net us money, even after interest.

(Note: This decision was made BEFORE the gas prices dropped below $3.50/gallon.)

So, I told the salesman that I was going to buy the Corolla, I just needed to bring Carmen by to let her drive it. Then the salesman told me that the Corolla had great mileage, but the Prius would have even better mileage. He showed me a Prius and I took it for a test drive just for "the fun of it". By the end of the test drive, I had decided I would try to make the Prius work. He told me of the long waits for the Prius and that he only had one in stock (in white). I don't really like white cars so I decided to look around.

I found one at Classic Toyota in Waukegan. The next weekend, I brought Carmen to see the car and she loved it. We decided to buy it. We had to wait for our Gray Prius to get in, but when I picked it up and drove it home, it was pretty cool to see 50 MPG on the highway.

Anyway, since that day, gas has gone down nearly $2 per gallon and we're saving money, but not as much money as we had hoped. At least we're happy... and green.