Big news: I'm officially looking for a used Prius, something I've been dreaming of for years! On my second day of working at my new job the Volvo just died while I was sitting at a traffic light. One minute I was listening to NPR and sipping my coffee, the next I was sitting in a car that was NOT on and frantically looking for my hazard light switch. Thank goodness I wasn't on the highway yet! And luckily my car restarted and I was able to get it to a nearby parking lot. But it was very unsettling not to mention frustrating and inconvenient.

It turned out to be the mass air sensor (had never heard of that part before) and it was $300 to replace. Ugh. I decided then that it is time to move on from the Volov. It's given me several years and thousands of miles but I'm ready to have a more reliable car. Plus one that gets way better gas mileage, has cup holders, and that has a gas tank that can be filled to the top (the Volvo leaks gas if you fill it all the way so I always have to estimate and can never fill the tank). Is that really asking so much?

So far my searching has just been virtual via Craigslist while I try to get a sense for prices. Currently I've got $7,000 that I can put towards a car. It's not the $10,000+ that I wanted but it's not bad. Right now I'm looking at the 2007 - 2010 models, which should be between $14,000 and $22,000 (very rough estimate). Plus, Chris actually has a colleague that is about to sell his 2008 Prius and we are seriously considering buying it, we're just waiting to hear back from him about pricing. 

Even though I'm really excited to get a new(er) car and to have a nice car it's still hard to part with my $7,000...and to take on additional debt. My savings account will look pretty sad for a few months and I'll need to borrow as much as $10,000 depending on the car I buy. My parents have been so generous and agreed to make me a car loan and I plan to try to pay the loan back in full within two and a half years. I definitely like that scenario better than working through a bank or dealership and having a 3-5 year loan.

So, I'm still in the pretty early stages but I'm hoping to have a Prius within the next couple of months!