Out of Order

I have a plan in my head.  Pay off the mortgage, fix up my property so I can live out there, sell my house, quit my job and find something part time.  The smaller details are movable, as needed or wanted.  One of those details was buying a replacement for my truck.  It is getting older, has 206,000 miles, and has acquired a few quirks like the door locks not working at random times.  I have been trying to figure out what my next car will be and how much it will cost.  Since I was going to wait until my truck died, buying the next car would be an emergency and I would most likely go to the used car dealer, Clyde Wanslee "Ugly But Honest", where my mother bought her car.  After looking at their inventory, I assumed I would have to pay $8K-$12K.  That would either drain my savings or put my mortgage plan on hold for a while.

Last week, a coworker brought his wife's car to work to meet a prospective buyer.  I didn't take much notice since I didn't even know what he was doing until after lunch.  The buyer didn't show up and I heard him complaining about people on craigslist so I asked about the car and what he was asking for it.  He said it was a PT Cruiser, 2002 with 92,000 miles and he was asking $3,000.  My ears perked up.  We went outside to look at it and I drove it around the block.  It didn't have everything that I was looking for in my next vehicle but 92K miles for $3,000 sounded too good to pass up, plus, I know he takes very good car of his cars (unlike me).  I told him I would let him know by the end of the day.  After researching the car and the blue book value, I decided to go for it.

The PT Cruiser's biggest flaws seem to be gas mileage, only 20 mpg, and lack of power.  My truck only got 17 mpg so I moved up a little.  They also depreciate like crazy but that is a plus for me at this point.  It seats 5 and has lot of cargo space with removable seats in the back which was at the top of my want list.

Comfortably fits 3 dogs.

Of course, I had to make sure my dogs fit.  I don't know if I can drive it to my property yet.  It rides really low to the ground so I will have to take the alternate way and I probably shouldn't try driving up my rocky driveway.  If I can get to the beginning of my driveway, that will suffice for now.  I plan to fix my driveway eventually but that can wait.  

I'm happy with my purchase even though replacing my truck wasn't urgent yet.  Hopefully, this car will last me a long time or at least until I find another deal that gets better gas mileage and is higher off the ground.  The final price I paid was $2,800.  I hate negotiating but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask and he said yes.  My truck should sell for at least $1500.  If I use the $500 that I had left from September's mortgage money, that means I just need to find $800 from somewhere, either savings, mortgage money, or I need to sell more stuff.  I'll be getting the title and registration this week, maybe Wednesday.  Our new CEO is visiting Monday and Tuesday and I don't want to disappear to the motor vehicle department for who knows how long when he is here.  So much to do!  I don't want to have 2 auto's for very long.  Not only are they costing my money but they are cluttering up my driveway.  I need to simplify asap.