We got a new (used) vehicle. Yay-ish. Yay because it’s so nice, and ish because it’s bad timing. Getting a new car because you want to is WAY funner than getting a new car because you have to. Cars are a big part of life for most of us. I wrote about my last two vehicles in my book. One chapter was called Odyssey, named after my first beloved Honda Odyssey.

The last time J bought a car for himself was in 2007! It was seven years old when we bought it.

The car has been with us longer than our kids and Z is almost an adult. It is a 2000 Toyota 4 Runner and it now has over 367,000 miles. That’s not a typo. That’s six digits with a  three at the front. Shout out to the 4runner. To know one is to love one.

I had a Toyota Highlander that I bought in 2009.

It was great, but when we were pregnant with our fourth we knew there was no way to fit the whole family so I was forced to upgrade. We bought a Honda Odyssey in 2015. I wrote a blog post about it titled “Super Amazing Wonderful Praise Report”. I couldn’t have had more love and appreciation for that van. Unfortunately it was totaled in 2019 in an accident on the highway with a semi. That experience left me with PTSD (officially diagnosed) which I’m recovering from and believing for complete and total healing.

Anyway we replaced the Odyssey with an Odyssey.

I loved the second Odyssey just as much as the first. Unfortunately a few weeks ago, just 4 months shy of paying it off , the check engine light came on and the Honda mechanic said it needs a new engine. This was DEVESTATING to me. It kind of triggered feelings of the wreck and loosing that van. J’s Toyota is running and I know I bragged about it, but as you can imagine it is limping along. It has a hard time with hills and highways. It could never haul anything and it is so loud it can be heard from the next town over, but it does manage to get him to places around town so we are thankful. Still, THAT would be the car I wanted to replace not my van. We were planning on cramming a bunch of final road trips in that  van before Z graduates next year. INSERT CRYING EMOJI!

Speaking of road trips, when we got the diagnoses for my van we were days away from a trip to the gulf! We had to rent a vehicle. This was an expense we weren’t planning for but I tried to put it out of my mind and we genuinely enjoyed that trip away. We got to spend some much needed time with Texas family and the beach was wonderful.

When we returned we got my old van out of the shop and hit the ground running looking for a replacement. It wouldn’t be that urgent but we have a trip to Detroit and another to Texas just a week away! After much deliberation we landed on a 2021 Honda Pilot.

We bought the car the first day it was listed, actually make that the second day because the day we test drove it I started sobbing in the lobby and walked away from the deal saying I needed to sleep on it. In my defense, if you feel pressured into making a decision it’s okay to walk away. The day we did purchase the car it wasn’t quite ready because they were detailing it, changing the oil and filters, etc. However one cool thing is I ran into an old friend I’ve known since SJ started at her deaf school in 2013!

This friend worked at the dealership and it was such a nice surprise to give her a big hug, see her sweet face and catch up. It was good for my soul with the pressure of the whole situation. To make it even better she was the one to drive the car to our house later that day after all the cleaning and such was finished. She popped a giant red bow on the Pilot and took our picture to commemorate the moment.

For the record I loved my mini van. I don’t care if it’s trendy or stylish and I still don’t know if we made the right choice going to an SUV. I was the one that was really firm on getting out of a mini van though and it was for the reason that we need to be able to haul things. An all wheel drive Pilot equipped with a hitch, wiring harness, and transmission cooler can haul up to 5,000 pounds. The one we bought has all of that and we have already used it to get a literal ton of sand for our chicken coop.  For the record a Honda Odyssey can haul 3,500 and we put a hitch on that thing and loaded it up quite frequently.

I have to mention in case anyone is wondering- we know what happened to the engine. I don’t speak car so I can’t explain details but it was probably due to a mechanic’s error years ago and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about that now. If you are also wondering why we wouldn’t get another Toyota since we loved that so much it’s the simple fact that the used ones are hard to come by and they are more expensive. We found an old 4 Runner in our price range but the cargo space was tiny. I know third row mid size SUVs can’t compare to a mini van in terms of cargo, but this particular car could probably only hold a laptop and a bag of chips. That doesn’t work for us.

So that’s the whole story. My dad laid hands on the hood of the car and prayed over it the day we got it. That meant so much to me. It’s going to be good.