One day I’ll have that truck—until then, it’s only the best kidmobile for our family.
—
The following is a post sponsored by Carsquare.com. The opinions are my own.
—
With three kids, a long commute to work, and a side business doing home repair, I’m far from done with buying cars.
Eventually, I’ll get that truck I’ve always wanted—that is, when the kids are out of booster seats and when my ride doesn’t double as the switch-cars-with-the-wife-mobile, which is fine, because I love riding with my kids.
But I’ve always wanted a truck. I grew up with a 1964 Ford F-100, a hand-me-down from grandpa, which my dad used for work until its last days.
And, in the future, I’ll be getting a hybrid truck, perfect for hauling tools and the kids (with enough cab room, of course). I came close once with a ’78 Champagne edition Volkswagen Bus, a.k.a. Leroy Brown, that I had to sell after it was gifted to me and I couldn’t keep repairing it. To this day I think about that VW bus and the ’64 truck and know that a good find can make or break a decade of having a car, bus, or truck that you love.
◊♦◊
The wife and I have been taking rides in cars since the kids were in utero.
We would get coffees and take the byways to get lost for the afternoon, listen to the radio, or have an impromptu picnic. As we added each kid, the rides continued as our cars changed size to fit our needs. Now our travels include only the best playgrounds that we’ve mapped out in our area because, well, we’ve traversed every avenue and route since our oldest was yet to be born.
In fact, we’ve been enjoying these rides since we took Edith, our ’91 Toyota Camry, across Canada and the top shelf of American highways. Our rides have continued through the years, since Little Blue (a ’87 Nissan Pulsar) and the Boat (’95 Park Avenue Buick) would take us to Connecticut and New Jersey for family visits. Rocket (my beloved ’04 Honda Civic) became the family ride for our second child, and our latest vehicles, KSP (’12 Kia Soul) and New Guy (’05 Toyota Camry) would become our daily trekkers.
That isn’t to say that we don’t miss our last car, the One We Never Really Named (’04 Saturn Vue which they literally don’t make anymore), which cost us the most in repairs. We even reminisce about the one we don’t really miss…because a driver always misses some part of a car that he’s owned.
◊♦◊
So, in the future, when the baby is old enough to drive, what sweet automobile will she inherit? In sixteen years our oldest will be on his own, with a car, and our middle child will hopefully be somewhere close to public transit. Just kidding—but not really. We’ve got years of used and new cars to consider, and we need to know where to go to find the best deals and features.
That’s where Carsquare comes in.
My wife—the best and wisest of smart consumers—is the expert at tracking down sales, car dealers, and the perfect match for future pursuits. She and I get advice, solid research, finance information, and even a Concierge service for any potential road mates from Carsquare. They compare the local dealers and options for us so that we don’t have to spend a whole Saturday riding up and down the highway, talking to every salesman on monthly commission who sees us—tired, desperate, and trying to keep three kids entertained while asking about every detail of the new kid mobile.
With Carsquare, I also don’t have to rely on my “car finding friend” who always happens to know where all the good finds are (many of them not being “finds” at all). I can simply read up on unbiased reviews, side-by-side comparisons, an actual car blog, and enough material on the buying process that we’ll feel good finding a dealer with the material we’ve diligently researched.
No offense to my “car” guy.
But we do love rides.
So that means we’ll always love cars and the freedom they bring us—now, when the kids are young, and later, when the kids can watch themselves while the wife and I slip off to an afternoon of getting lost on some byway and slowly finding our way home.
But I still want that truck—and when I do get it, it might even be an affordable new truck (the first new car we’d ever own), perfect for Sunday driving or the work commute – and something I can hand down to my son or daughters.
◊♦◊
Photos: Tanya McKeen, Carsquare.com