My new Toy-ota

In the U.S, the end of the year is the best time to hunt for a car because that's when most dealerships offer incentives and price breaks so that they could meet their year-end budget. We have talked about switching my car for a better one, for various little hypothetical reasons.

While I absolutely love my 2005 Hyundai Elantra because it is versatile, easy to drive, fuel efficient, great A/C, excellent visibility and the right size for little me (plus I can spot it from far away because of its' striking blue color), it does have its' cons.

1) The check-engine light has been coming on for no reason. But it goes off after a few days. We think the gas cap might be the culprit or it may just be dirty gas.
2) Car pulls to the right. Twice it was because of a nail in the tire. But after fixing that, it still does that even after sending it for alignment.
3) Not so fun to drive on road trips because of the noise factor and bumpy suspension.
4) Not practical if we were to have kids/kid.(no Child seat latch)
5) Poor crash rating.
6) Car depreciates fast.

So we went scouting. Honestly, I was hoping I would not find anything so that I can keep my blue thang and not have to put myself through listening to those vultures car salesmen.
We tried the Fords, Toyotas and Hyundais. And narrowed down our choices to the Hyundai Elantra 2008 model (yes I still love the Elantra), Hyundai Tucson, Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Corolla LE (or the Altis in Malaysia). Although I would love to have a smaller car like the Toyota Matrix but I have to remind myself that I am not single anymore and the Matrix would not allow me to haul luggages, stuff from Lowes or maybe baby strollers one day.

Did more research and more sleepless nights and we were finally down to two - Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla LE. We drove them again and got to keep them for 2 hours. But I still could not make up my mind. (It is not like buying a dress or a pair of shoes)
We managed to get a good price for the Toyota which put it in the same price range as the Elantra that we were looking at. We wanted something that would allow us to make the same monthly payments as our existing Hyundai.

While the Toyota drives a lot smoother and has a great pickup, it did not have all the bells and whistles of the Hyundai.(satellite station, extra compartments, pockets behind the seat, volume control on the steering wheel, blue tooth capability).

But I would like to keep this next car for the next 100 20 years or so. And the Toyota definitely holds its value better and is more fuel efficient. (can go up to 40 mpg).

So the Toyota won.

I had only 10 minutes to say goodbye to my blue thang. And I actually cried. Yes I can get sentimental.
I know I will love the Toyota (I don't even have a name for him yet. What do you call something that is gray and the color of ash? without sounding too depressing) and it will grow on me and I will get used to the gray color.



Farewell my blue thang....