The picture above is a picture of my new baby! It's a 2009 Jeep Liberty. I made the decision to get a new car a few weeks ago and wasn't sure exactly when I was going to be getting it. Hell, I didn't even know if I could get auto financing since my credit is less than great. I have been working on my credit, paying off my credit card bills on time to establish more credit than what I had. (I've been doing that since I got credit cards in November) I was really worried about going to a dealer and trying to get financing, but I found a dealer in Little Falls, NJ that specialized in getting financing for those with not so great credit. The dealer is a good 35 minutes from me, but when they called me and told me I was pre-approved, I decided to give it a try.
I ended up being at the dealer for 4.5 hours, but they got me financed! My credit has gone up quite a bit, and the girl said that helped a lot with getting me approved. (Last year when I tried to get financing car dealerships probably laughed at me because of my credit score!) Picking a car was probably the most difficult thing. There were so many nice SUV's there that were within my price range but two cars really stuck out to me. The Jeep Liberty and a Dodge Caliber.
One of my friends has a Dodge Caliber and I absolutely love her car. Driving in it is so smooth and it's just a great little car, but that's just it. It's little. It's a hatchback and possibly can be considered a crossover, but I'm not sure. It was a gorgeous electric blue color...just amazing. Unfortunately, it was too small for me. I kept going back over to it and looking at it, but it wasn't the right size for all we have to carry. The saleswoman really helped me when she brought me the keys to the Jeep Liberty. I sat in that car and it was just perfect. Something seemed so right. It looked much more expensive than it was and it was a great size for me and my kids. I just fell in love with it. When she told me it has satellite radio and bluetooth, that sealed the deal for me.
It was worth sitting at the dealership for almost 5 hours to get this car. It's mine, mine, mine! The car rides so smooth, it's a different color than I had ever had and the car is just beautiful. I'm so in love with it! I'm very happy... (And it has air conditioning, unlike my Chevy.) It's funny, I actually posted this post a year ago tomorrow about buying my Chevy. The Chevy worked good for me for the year I had it, but it had too many issues and I didn't feel that the right thing was to put more money into it. Of course I do miss it, but I'm a Jeep girl now. I do not regret my decision at all.
Of course, this is my first car that I am financing. Along with this comes a lot of responsibility and I have to change my habits. Because of the car payments, I am going to have to revamp my life and my thinking. I'm going to have to put money away for my car payments and not spend frivolously on just anything. I can't go out shopping because I'm sad or bored. I have to be cautious on what I spend and only spend what I need to. I really have to be careful and have the money monthly for my payments.
I'm happy and scared at the same time!
