I was a lucky kid and my mom essentially gave me the best first car out of all my siblings. Originally, I was suppose to get my brother's old Corolla when I got my license, drive that for about 3 years and when I graduated college, my mom was going to give me her old Camry til I could get a new car myself. Well, my brother Brian messed that plan up when he totaled the Corolla on his way back to school in a snow storm my freshmen year of college (his junior year). He had also totaled my mom's Suburban a few years before that. So after doing a lot of searching for months (I also didn't get my license until the first year of college was over so that helped my mom out), my mom ended up getting me a 2004 Toyota Corolla that had just come back off a 2 year lease.
I had named her Cora the Corolla. Yes, I name my cars. That car was my baby for the last 9 years. My mom luckily paid it off for me so I just had to pay the maintenance, the registration fee, etc.
But over the last year with my long commute to work and the crappy winters we have had in New York, I wanted something bigger. I just liked the look of the Honda CR-V. My friend Sarah from work drove one and when we went out to lunch one day last year, it drove so nicely. So many other teachers have work have one. I kept reading Consumer Reports and looked at the ratings and all the safety features. I had also contemplated a Nissan Murano and a Nissan Rouge, but I kept going back to the CR-V.
My mom said that she kept reading the Farmer's Almanac and that this winter was suppose to be bad. With my commute on any given day 30-45 minutes, she wanted me in something a little safer/bigger. So we went looking at the Honda CR-V's. The first dealership I went to, I saw a dark blue one and fell in love. I sat in it and was sold. I know that may seem foolish but I was. I wasn't buying it that day but the salesman explained my options on leasing versus buying it outright. And I knew that as soon as I bought it outright, the value of the car depreciates the moment you drive it off the lot.
Logically, I knew with my student loan payments, rent, and all my other bills, I couldn't afford a high monthly car payment. Luckily, having good credit paid off! I decided to lease the car since it was a payment that I could afford. And I plan on buying it out in the end of my lease because *hopefully* I will have more money by that point.
I have been super happy driving it the past few days and really glad I went with this car!
