Wednesday, June 22, 2011

new car smell.

finally.  the saga of replacing our car is over, two & a half weeks after it began.

i never really explained why we were having such a hard time... but if you're in the buying-a-car market right now, you already know.  you see, japan had a bit of a catastrophic event happen in their neck of the woods which caused them to pretty much stop making cars the last few months.  this means no japanese cars which is a decent amount of the cars in the market.  so no new japanese cars means all the other cars are in low supply which meant used car prices were super inflated.  so this complicated things.

long story short, we still didn't really get exactly the car we were looking for because there were literally none of them in the whole west coast for sale.  weird, right?  if you're thinking recipe for ginormous headache, you're right.

anywho, we decided on this... and i'm very happy with our decision:





...a 2011 kia optima.

if you're thinking "a kia-what-ima??"  i was too.  until we started looking at them & i was totally sold.  and this is where i start sounding like a car salesman, but i promise kia isn't paying me any money to say these things.  although, if they wanted to i would totally accept it.

i was sold when i saw what you get for the money.  you get a pretty sweet looking, spacious, fun-to-drive, well equipped ride for a decent price.  the trunk is huge {more than big enough for our massive stroller}, lots of leg room in the back seat {even when sam is driving & the seat is all the way back}, 34 mpg highway, a warranty that is ridiculously long, & a car that is rated higher in 2011 than honda accord by consumer reports.

just sayin'.

but you know who just might be happiest of all of us that this whole car search is over?  p-ray.  because he has spent way more than his fair share of time hanging out in car dealership lobbies, getting his carseat thrown in a crazy amount of strange cars to do test drives,  being held & hushed while we haggled talked with numerous salesmen, & driving all over the state to check out different dealers' inventories.


i feel ya p-ray, i feel ya.

click twice to vote & i'll feel ya too.  wait, that came out wrong.  you know what i mean.
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31 comments:

  1. Hooray! Congratulations! I'm sure you'll all sleep better at night now!

    And now you can make it to one of our rides next week!

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  2. Nice!!! I tried to get Philip to get a Kia when he sold his car last month - but he said absolutely not. He's ridic. I should have him read this post!

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  3. I love it. Looks great. Congratulations!

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  4. yay for new cars. that is interesting about kias being good cars, they have such a bad rap, except by the people who own them, so that is really great!

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  5. It's such a beautiful car! I've heard that the past few years Kia cars have been really high quality. The gas mileage is incredible, too! I'm happy that you are done with the shopping so you can play more. :)

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  6. Kia's are great cars. Hyundai bought out Kia from what I hear a few years back and the quality has increased a lot. So happy you found a car you like! and the MPG is amazing.

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  7. Congrats! its looked like a giant pain that i'm super happy not to be dealing with lately. I am curious about what car you really wanted? gonna spill?

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  8. congrats on the new car! Ive never heard of a kia optima but its look very nice from what i can see in the pics.

    ya for no more car shopping/haggling!

    [sweet life of a southern wife]

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  9. Yay glad you found something! I need a new car so bad (my transmission is going out and its a 95' coupe and that's not good with a baby lol) but ugh I just can't afford one right now which really sucks. :(

    Oh Jazmyn

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  10. nice choice! we just bought a kia also but a soul. very happy! kia's rock! good luck with your new ride!

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  11. Amy, that first picture is SOOOOO awesome, seriously!
    I love it!
    Congrats on the new car! I love car shopping, and was switching cars every year to two years, until I bought the perfect car and there's just nowhere to go up from it.

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  12. Congrats on the new car, it looks nice! I sent a vote your way because your "i feel you" line just had me rolling. Love it. ;)

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  13. wow, i think you just sold us our new car. seriously.

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  14. Nice, sounds like a good car! Car shopping really is a difficult and long process. Good for you for picking the right vehicle and not getting sucked into another. We just went through the same thing. Congrats!

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  15. Congrats on the new car! It's a great feeling!

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  16. My mom had a Kia Sorenta and loved it but recently traded for a new Kia Soul because the gas mileage is amazing - I like Kia's especially the Optima.

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  17. Congrats on your new purchase! Glad your search is finally over!!

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  18. Wow. I can sense the new car smell based on the amount of shine I saw in the first photo. P-ray looks pretty pleased with the selection. I bet you are all glad that is over!

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  19. My in-laws bought an Optima a few years ago and they LOVE it, too! Congratulations! Glad it's over for you (we did this last fall and it was sooooo stressful).

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  20. Congratulations! I'm so glad y'all finally found a car. It looks great! :D

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  21. its about time! haha just joking, i know you guys looked EVERYWHERE. I love that you had to tell everyone the benefits of a kia so they could appreciate it. :) Anyways it looks so beautiful and shiny. Whats not to love? Congrats on being stress free again. . . almost

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  22. Whew! I bet you're glad that's over. :) It looks like a great pick.

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  23. Yay, congrats!! Sounds like you made a really smart decision. It's all about being practical and efficient these days!

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  24. Love the new car. Sounds like a very smart investment! Parker is such a champ for going along with you.

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  25. Congrats! It looks really nice!

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  26. Love it! It looks really sporty and luxurious! I'm glad you guys finally found a good one :)

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  27. Congratulations!!! Love that car. I just encountered the same fiasco myself with the whole Japan issue...I ended up with the Subaru Legacy and I feel the same way! Subaru what?! But it's everything we need a car and in our price range! :)

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  28. YAY!! Congrats! My sister has a Kia and loves hers. The MPG is enough of a selling point. :) Love that shot of P-Ray.

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  29. Hmmm = I see ya got 29 comments already but I still wanna say the new car looks really sweet!!
    Congratz!!! & Love the last Parker pic!

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  30. omg. look at his face. to. die. for.

    i am glad to hear your car search is over. its super nice looking. and 34mpg FOR REALZ??!?!?!

    sold. if i ever get rid of my mama car {which is a complete necessity at the current moment seeing as how i cart around massive amounts of teenagers at a time} i am totally looking into a kia. a girlfriend of mine has an optima too and LOVES it.

    again, congrats.

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