surprised....with a NEW CAR!

If you follow me on instagram, then you already know that I rolled into this week in a brand new car! 🚙 Of course, I wanted to document this crazy sweet story of how this all happened because it was a complete SURPRISE to me and there is so much gratitude and relief around this.

Let's start out by talking about my old car. I had an 11 year old Honda Civic, but you would think it was even older than that. In fact, I've completely lost faith in Honda (even though I had 2 other Honda cars prior to this one that I loved) after my experience with constant problems with this car over the years. Lots of things were falling apart that are beyond the normal wear and tear. But there were a few big issues that have become major problems. 

Problem #1: The paint on my car was recalled. And while this is only esthetic, I had my Honda repainted 3 times in less than 2 years. None of it mattered. The paint would immediately begin to peel again and the car was completely different colors. Every time I had it painted, I had to also cover the cost of a rental car. As a grad student who doesn't have a lot of extra time or funds, this has been a major headache. 

Problem #2: My AC is completely unreliable. This is a big one for me because I live in the South and temperatures have already hit 100 degrees so far this summer. If I'm driving for more than an hour, you can forget about it, the AC will completely shut itself off. And even when it's on, I never know whether or not it's actually going to work. We already sank over $1k into fixing and replacing various parts of the AC system, but it hasn't solved the problem. I was regularly having to go without AC or potentially run into a situation where the car started to stall itself. 

Problem #3: My Honda Civic was covered with a rubber lining on the exterior for protection. The rubber lining has started to completely peel away. When I'm driving, I can hear pieces of it flapping in the wind. The car is literally falling apart. The issue with this is that it has allowed seepage into the car. With the temperatures rising and the lack of external protection, the heat actually created white spots all along my windshield, which has majorly obstructed my vision. 

So with all of this, I was at a crossroads. Do I sink thousands of dollars into trying to fix a car that is continuously popping up with more and more problems? Do I spend even more money to get something new? Honestly, I wasn't interested in doing either. But this Fall, I go on dental school rotations and I will have long commutes that require a reliable car. Husband has been pushing for us to get me something, but I've been resistant because I didn't want to put us under that kind of financial strain. Both of our cars were paid off and taking on a monthly car payment just does not seem doable for us right now. But we were kind of out of options. Enter brand New Car! 

A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my 29th birthday! My parents had told me that they wanted to give me my present in person, which I thought nothing of. So when I went home this past weekend to celebrate Father's Day and my little sister's graduation, I was in complete shock to find a new car waiting there for me. The sweet story behind this is that my parents had offered to upgrade my little sister's 2 year old SUV as a potential high school graduation gift for her. But she insisted that her car was still new and that if anything, she would like for me to have a new car instead. Isn't my sister the sweetest? What 17-year old is so selfless? My parents agreed and decided to gift me this car as a birthday/early grad school graduation gift. 

You guys, I'm 29 years old AND married. I'm kind of sort of an adult now. I never in a million years would have asked my parents to buy me a car or even to help me buy a car. But they did. And I'm so thankful. I feel a wave of complete relief knowing that I can drive off into the sunset when my dental school rotations start without having to worry about getting stranded somewhere.