We Did It!!

Today marks yet another milestone in our lives - we have placed an order for a new car!!

Since last year, my friends have been bugging me to buy a new car, citing it's a first time buyer market (new cars were relatively cheap and we don't have the burden of disposing an existing car), provides convenience for the family etc. While I was keen to consider, Chester didn't share my excitement as he felt that it was premature to get a car then as we won't know how the baby will change our routines and way of life, and getting a car is a big decision, cos it may be cheap to buy a car, but there are expenses that we need to contend with.

Months rolled by and COEs rolled higher. The thought of getting a car faded into the background, tossed right to the back of my head, as my EDD drew near.

After Mayenne was born, I re-opened the discussion with Chester on the topic of getting a car. Chester was still hesitant and his parent were also initially against the idea, and offered to let us drive their car on weekends if we need to. But I explained to Ches that we (both his parents and us) would be bound by each other's schedules and activities, ie if we need to use the car, his parents will be forced to make alternative arrangements or even decide to stay home, just because the car is with us. The thought of depriving his parents from the use of their own car didn't sit well with me.

Besides, having our own car would greatly facilitate Ches in his photography jobs. Mayenne would also have the quality of life that both Ches and I previously were fortunate enough to enjoy - both our parents have cars when we were very young.

We finally concluded that we should get a car, but there's another problem - which car to get?

After a few weekends of car hunting and test driving, Chester was inclined to get the Nissan Latio, as it was the car that carries the most "gadgets" eg keyless ignition, ioniser aircon etc, made in Japan, was one of the more fuel efficient car with a spacious interior, and most importantly within our budget. He also got good reviews from a friend who bought a Latio late last year.

But I HATED the design of the car. Given that there aren't many choices around, I tried to convince myself that it isn't that boxy after the bodykit is installed, and it is a good car for that price. So I gave in and agreed to getting the Latio, only if Ches gets it in black.

Then COE plummeted by half last week, and we were grateful that we have not made a booking yet. Feeling good about the lower COE (which market says was primarily due to technical problems with the bidding system), we were all set to go to Tan Chong to place the order today.

But like God's calling, we came across Chevrolet's advertisement for their 2008 new Optra Magnum in Saturday's papers and the price were slashed by more than $5k in view of the lower COE, and this reduction was way more than Tan Chong's adjustment for the Latio.

We went to Alpine Motors to check out the car, and was offered a deal that was hard to resist - a 1.6L continental car for only $55,588, with guaranteed COE, free reverse sensors, free upgrade to leather seats and sports rims and free solar film. Best of all, the car looks great, well, at least much better than Latio.

After weeks of car searching, we decided on a car we saw for less than 1 hour. Such are ironies of life.

Really looking forward to the day when we collect the keys to the car. The next thing for me to do is take up driving refresher course...... :P