GUESS WHAT?!

I bought a car!

I got the 2010 Nissan Rogue SL and I am in LOVE!

Its front wheel drive and has a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine and 170 horsepower. I got the premium package, so it came with a Bose sound system, 6 CD changer, 3 months of free satellite radio, a ridiculous amount of air bags, a freaking huge glove box and center console, bluetooth, and its entirely keyless. I mean, ENTIRELY keyless. As long as the remote is within a certain range, I don't need to use my keys or remote to get in or start the car. (There are a lot of other features, but I'm not going to list them all here. It's too time consuming.) And quite possibly my favorite feature: it has a moon roof!

I spent quite a lot of time researching cars to buy before I made a final decision and this was definitely the best deal. It's 4 star government rated in front crash safety for both driver and passenger and rollover safety and 5 star government rated in side crashes for front and rear seats. It gets around 22 MPG (city) and 27 MPG (highway), which is practically nothing next to Phoenix, but let's face it: Phoenix was special.

Speaking of Phoenix, my mom, Jereme, and I took him over to Carmax to get him appraised and they only wanted to give me $750. Seriously? For that awesome car??? We decided to take it to the Nissan dealership and see what they would offer -turned out to be a really good idea! While we were discussing the car I wanted to buy I mentioned the [potential] trade-in and they quickly offered to appraise it. They came back and offered $800 (SERIOUSLY!?). My dad said that wasn't enough, we needed at least $1,000. So they obliged. :D! So Phoenix helped me put $5000 down on my car! See? I told you he was amazing!

The total cost of my car: $26,020. I got a better interest rate if my dad cosigned with me, so we did that and then as we're signing the papers with the finance manager, she starts talking about warranties. They have the standard 3 year limited warranty and then there's a special warranty deal with 3 options. I chose the TOP most option (for a mere additional $24/month) and when I did that, she gave me 0% interest for the life of the loan AND my payments don't begin until November 5, 2010.


Moral of the story: Research pays. Or, in this case: saves!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. My car also comes with "Mood Lighting" - I have yet to figure this out. Hahaha!
2. Fat Guy across the street saw me come home from work today and when I got out of the car he yelled, "Congratulations!" I said thanks and then he said, "And you look REALLY good driving it!" ...awkward...
3. I can't believe the crap Beetlejuice is pulling.
4. I GET TO SEE ALLI IN 17 DAYS!! Although, if I count the way Alli's family counts, its more like 5 days. Hahaha!
5. I'm super excited to take Rogue to San Diego in a few weeks!
6. Jereme's girl friend is coming in like a week and a half! I better start cleaning...
7. I have a massive crush on Ron Weasley.