Buying My First Car at 28 Years Old

Before I even begin to let you into my chaotic brain, I just wanted to touch on the reality we are living in today. I think we all can agree that 2020 is a reminder that life does not stop throwing curveballs and even though we cannot be entirely prepared, we can always have a safety net for our future self. My best advice would be to live within your means and create a savings plan and an emergency fund. I personally have been living in the unknown for the past few months, especially not knowing if I will have work to return to. 

This leads me to my first consideration for shopping for a vehicle; Financially plan for your future self. I thought I had an idea of how much I wanted to spend but ultimately it came down to what I had planned for the next year of my life. I knew I could not bring myself to finance a vehicle because we (Fred & I) would like to purchase a property as soon as the right opportunity pops up. Which means getting a mortgage! Which means...I can’t have a car payment impeding my ability to borrow money. (I do know that there is a lot more on this but I think we can save that for another blog.)

Now it’s time to go shopping. But where do I start!? Here is what I do know; the only things that I need to tote around are myself, my boyfriend, paddle boards, my bike and a cooler full of bevies. What I also know is that I needfuel efficiency in my life (refer back to blog on Chronicles of an F150). Unfortunately, finances have forced me to eliminate an electric car from my list. But this is 100% part of my future plan.

Test drive time. Two brands stand out to me; Toyota and Volkswagen. Both reliable vehicles. Toyota has an epic track record for living forever. Momma Wils drove her 2000 Toyota Camry for 500,000+ kilometres. I am surrounded by Volkswagen drivers, and every owner LOVES their baby. I needed to test drive to finally curb my curiosity and get me a little closer to knowing what I really wanted. I showed up to Sarnia Volkswagen with full intentions of driving the cheapest 2020 Tiguan they had on their lot. No bells, no whistles. The ladies at VW, talked me into test driving a 2020 Golf, with all the bells and whistles of course. (isn’t that what salespeople do?). I fell in LOVE. While at the dealership, I realized that there was absolutely no chance I was buying a brand new Tiguan, so I also gave a 2015 Tiguan a test drive...I hated it. This is the moment I realized...WHY DO I NEED AN SUV? I don’t. Conclusion; A Golf will fit my bicycle into its hatchback. A roof rack is all I need for my paddleboards and a cooler and my boyfriend will absolutely fit no problem into a Golf. (Not to mention they are safe reliable vehicles with affordable insurance!) And just like that, I had narrowed my search. Now all that I needed to do was find a Golf that didn’t make me have an absolute panic attack when I thought about how much I would be spending...After HST, damn HST. 

The Golf that I had test drove was going to cost me $31,000 plus HST. This was an easy and obvious hell no. So, I began my shopping for a used VW Golf with epically low kilometers that I could easily keep below 100,000 km in the next three years. My thought process; buy a car that I can potentially sell in three years when Ontario is better prepared for electric vehicles. And then buy a Tesla...shhhh, I can dream! Thanks to Autotrader, I managed to find myself a cutie2017 VW Golf with 35,000 km and 11 months left on its manufacturer's warranty. Tossed a roof rack on her and she is everything I have ever needed! 

But did I mention she was 250 kilometers away? Thank you to Momma Wils for making the trek with me! Unfortunately for her, about 100km into the drive, I realized that I had forgotten my purse...with my LICENSE in it. The only thing that I made sure to never let go of was the certified cheque from the bank. After a solid 25 minutes of being pulled over, debating on turning back and obviously swearing at myself, I finally got a hold of the VW salesman (before 8am). He assured me that it was no big deal and I was just going to have to accept that I just might get a $65 ticket if I got pulled over on the way home. LOL. Once I had accepted these consequences, we proceeded to an ONroute for breakfast. Where I then realized that I had been stepping on my purse the entire car ride. Mom and I have never laughed so hard.

Safe to say that we made it home, and I am in love! Might I add that I have just added to the family collection of 2017, black VWs...this was completely unintentional. But WE CUTE. And thank you again to Momma Wils for making the chaotic trek with me to pick up my new wheels. And thank you to my father for letting me drive his trucks ever since the sharp age of 16! He now has a collection of trucks, so if you would like to purchase a Ford F150 with rather high kilometers...call Brad! 

Amy