Strange, Just Strange

Buying a car to replace the recently stolen one was definitely an experience. Of course, there was the whole shopping part of it, but that's not what quite made it such a strange experience. What made it strange was the type of car we chose and how that choice all of sudden aged me into adulthood.

Truth be told, my car was on its way to POS status. It had dents. It had mismatched steel wheels from different brands of cars. The radio hadn't worked in months. The alarm also hadn't worked in months. The paint, formerly black, was now an urban camouflage of faded black and gray splotches. It had some dents. The interior was still nice but the car definitely showed some wear and tear.

Well, the choice of replacing it boiled down to getting another econocar to commute in (especially since my work requires a bit of driving) or buy something a bit bigger to accomodate me, the wife, and the dog and then swap that vehicle with the wife so I would end up with her older (also on its way to POS status), small car. The wife and I figured that we probably won't have too many opportunities to buy something a bit bigger (especially since, as I mentioned in my previous blog, we were planning on buying a house) so we decided to go that route.

We ended up with a used Toyota Highlander. For those of you who don't know what a Highlander is, you must be stuck under some rock because there's a million of them out there. They're Toyota's mid-size, car based SUV. So, how does a mid-size SUV age me into adulthood?

First, only my aunts and uncles buy Toyotas, especially mid-sized SUV Toyotas. I've always sworn that I was going to end up with something more hip, like a Mini Cooper S, a raised V8 truck, a Mustang, or something of the like. Instead, I buy what is essentially the badge of middle class, family-aged adults. Next time you see a Highlander on the road, check out who's driving and you'll see what I mean.

Second, the decision making behind the purchase was the decision making my aunts and uncles used to follow and I absolutely loathed. We had a choice between a V6 and a four cylinder Highlander (and a similarly priced V8 Forerunner, actually). We ended up with the four-cylinder. Why? It's better on gas. Me and the wife didn't even give performance related issues a second thought. We had a choice between a fairly well optioned one or a base model. We chose the base because it was cheaper and we figured who needed all the gadgets anyway? Did we even think of the "cool" factor that these gadgets bring? Not a thought.

Third, I'm back making car payments and it's not the relative piddly car payments I made for my old car. Granted, the payments aren't the ginormous amounts some people make (the loan person at the bank told me she recently wrote up a car loan that had a thousand dollar payments) but it was substantial than I or the wifey were making before on our econoboxes. The amount just ups the ante a bit in terms of responsibility.

So, I feel a lot older after this whole car buying process. I'm still resisting it a bit because I've always seen myself as suffering from a bit of the Peter Pan syndrome. I always told myself that I would always put fun and enjoyment as the top priority. Maybe I still am but my definition of fun and enjoyment has changed a bit? That's a topic for another blog entry.