Bye Bye Jetta, hello Vibe!

So my lease is/was up on my Jetta at the end of this month, and last Friday Justin & I went and turned it in. I had the option to buy it, but since Justin had wrecked it 10 months after I got it, and he didn't like how it braked any way (though I've *never* had a problem with it), and the headliner had shrunk (probably from the freaking oppressive TN heat), and it had some scratches, etc etc, we at first had just decided I would drive "The Big Blue Truck" and he would drive his "dented piece of not-crap" (he bought a 1998(?) Ford F150 that had the drivers door all bashed for $300 and it runs great!), but then Justin got it in his head that I shouldn't have to climb in/out of the BBT, so he started (forcing me to) look at cars again. I didn't want a station wagon or van, but a regular car or a SMALL SUV would have been fine. I mean, come on, I'm becoming a mom, but do I really need a station wagon or van?????? No freaking way.

Any way, we would drive around car lots in the evenings, and I would say, "Oh that one looks ok, or "too big," "too ugly," "no freaking way." He tried talking me into a Dodge Nitro, just because it was a good deal, but man, those cars are manly-looking. I might wear jeans every-freaking-day, but I would like at least a non-mannish car!

So we decided to start looking around the car dealership where I had to turn my car back in, and he pointed out a Subaru Outback. I don't like the stupid wing in the middle of the back window, so I said no. But then I saw a little blue car, and told Justin I liked how that one looked. Since the dealership was still open, he got a sales guy to let us test drive it.

A vehicle has to pass the following rules:

1. Justin has to fit in the drivers seat. Whenever we go somewhere together, usually he drives, and we tend to take whatever vehicle is easier to get to. When we were looking for cars before I got the Jetta, I seriously confused the Honda sales guy when Justin sat in a Civic, put the seat all the way back, still wanted about 2" more of room, and I told the sales guy, "Well, that's it's then. Thanks for your time." I still took it for a test drive, but that car was *seriously* underpowered.
2. It has to have a sunroof.
3. I have to be able to beat the shit out of it in a test drive. When I test drove the Jetta, I had it over 120mph by the time I was off the on ramp onto the highway. Obviously I don't need to go that fast any more, but the car really has to have decent power. I'm not a grandma driver!

Did it pass the test? 1 (check). 2 (check!), and 3 (eh, mostly check. I wasn't feeling great that evening, so I didn't really feel like driving like a crazy woman (plus it was after dark and below freezing), but it does perform well.)

So, we ended up getting a 2006 Pontiac Vibe in the same color blue as BBT. Now I just need to find an XM radio (because radio in Erie? TOTALLY SUCKS). I would like to find a portable one that I could use with my stereo receiver at home, and be able to use it in any of our 3 vehicles, plus possibly the camper. Hopefully I'm not being too over-ambitious with what I expect to find.

Excuse the crappy quality of the pic - I took it with my phone, and it tends to wash stuff out. Too bad it couldn't wash out the dirt that's covering my car :-). The dirt makes it look like there's more dents than there are. There are a few dents, but really they're just creases, and I can deal with that. Makes it less saddening when I get a new dent. Yesterday I drove 30 miles to get the car seat installed - it fits in the center of the backseat, but just barely. At least the baby isn't going to go anywhere! 2 adults can still sit in the backseat even with the baby seat - I haven't had the dogs in the car yet, so I'm not sure how they're going to like being separated from each other. I figure I'll wait until the baby comes to put them in the car - maybe licking the baby will provide enough distraction from the lack of room for them :-).