www.chrisdriggers.com

So this weekend, we went to Carmax and bought a new car. We’d made the decision a while ago. Our beloved 1998 Subaru Forester, which kept us safe during countless blizzards in Erie PA, finally decided to start bleeding to death in our driveway. An oil leak, and then the front wheels started making that bearing-is-siezed kind of noise. It was time to take it out back and shoot it.

Then there was the matter of my Jeep. I loved my Jeep, but I hardly ever drove it. And it was costing us a lot. So we decided to trade it in, along with the Sube, and get something else.

The whole idea was to get a car that would last us about 5 years. during the next 5 years, we’re planning on having a couple kids, so we had to keep that in mind. We knew what our budget was. Since I have the Honda Civic that I drive to work every day, this was going to be the family car, and Meg’s daily driver.

If you’ve never been to Carmax, you should totally go. It was the best car buying experience i’ve ever had. We already knew the cars we wanted to look at from checking out the website. We narrowed it down to two. My pick was a 2003 Honda Pilot, which was nice. It had lots of room, leather seats, the whole deal. Meg’s pick was a 2003 Lexus RX300, which was nicer, but had less room. They both cost the same, around 20k. We test drove the Lexus, and I was impressed. Good solid car. Meg fell in love with it, and that was that. We didn’t even bother test driving the Honda.

I’m satisfied with our purchase. It’s a reliable, comfortable car that gets decent gas mileage, and is family friendly. The problem is that it’s a Lexus. That’s sort of a luxury car. Meg and I are having to adjust to the fact that we own a nicer car than just about anybody we know. It doesn’t matter that it was one of the cheaper SUVs on the lot at Carmax. It’s still kind of weird. But that’s the way it fell into place.

I never buy anything without doing a lot of research, having been burned in the past (Dodge, I’m looking at you). I knew I didn’t want to get a domestic car. Just haven’t been impressed with the quality of anything domestic lately. I also knew I didn’t want to get a truck-based (body on frame) SUV. Those typically get shit gas mileage and ride rough. Car based SUV narrowed it down to the Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX300, Acura MDX, and Honda Pilot. And then we decided that we were going to Carmax, and were going to pick something in inventory that day. So that’s how we ended up with the Lexus.

So that’s another piece in the puzzle. I feel pretty good knowing that we have a reliable car that will last us a while. The uncertainty that comes from an unreliable vehicle really cramps your life. We have a trip coming up in a couple weeks to West Virginia for my sister’s wedding, and if our shit broke down in the middle of that, we’d be in a world of hurt.

So, my question now is:  Do you think I’m a stuck up rich mother fucker for driving a Lexus?