Even so, I have mixed feelings about owning and driving a car again. If we lived in any other city, I know I'd be more excited, but in Brooklyn, car ownership comes with a lot of baggage, which is one big reason why we've lived as pedestrians for so long. What kind of baggage, you ask? Well, things topping my list right now include:
- Parallel street parking. I need to re-learn how to do this.
- The hassle. First you have to find a parking spot, which I'm told can sometimes take awhile, and then you have to keep moving your car around for the alternate side street cleaning regulations.
- The expense. New York City has one of the highest auto insurance rates in the country, and Brooklyn is the most expensive of the five boroughs. Not to mention the cost of gas, maintenance, and the car loan itself.
- Parking tickets. Not that we're planning to get any, but in a city where private driveways and parking lots are nearly non-existent, it's kind of something you have to just assume will happen eventually.
- City driving in general. The roads are narrow and mostly one-way, everyone stops suddenly and double parks, drivers are extra aggressive, and even with the GPS we have, I'm sure we'll get lost in this maze of a million streets.
With the exception of the occasional vacation, it's been 4 1/2 years since I've been behind the wheel, and I'm a little nervous to be starting again here. This is a city of pedestrians, and over the years I've learned how to be a really awesome pedestrian -- the kind who has developed a distaste for the attitudes of most drivers. It will, in more ways than one, be a huge adjustment for me, especially at the beginning. I fully plan to take baby steps; I'm sure I'll branch out more eventually, but, since most of the affairs of my daily life can be conducted within a few blocks of our apartment, the only place I plan to drive myself at first is to the church and back. And I fully intend to never drive into Manhattan. Just because we'll own a car doesn't mean we'll abandon public transportation altogether.
But all my hesitancy aside, I know that having a car again will be good. It's a step forward (if also a bit of a leap of faith), and one that it was time for us to take. And as this pregnancy continues to develop, it will be nice to have an easier and more comfortable way of getting my growing family around and, when it comes time, to the hospital to deliver.
Now, except for a few photos, I haven't seen our new car yet, but Blake tells me that it drives beautifully. It's a 2004 Honda Pilot that we found online at a dealership in San Antonio, near his parent's home. His dad and brother test drove it for us and gave us the thumbs up, but we (and be "we" I completely and totally mean "Blake"; purchasing this car has been almost solely his project) conducted all the business of purchasing it ourselves.
We chose a Honda Pilot for several reasons, the biggest of which was that it would fit a growing family. Initially we just wanted a small car that we could fit three car seats in the back row of, but we quickly realized that not only was that a difficult task, but we also didn't want to go through the hassle of buying a car again the next time I'm pregnant. Blake wanted something with four wheel drive to help us get through the winters, which pretty much ruled out a minivan. So in the end we were looking for an SUV with a fold-down third row. Of all the cars we researched and test drove, the Pilot was by far superior.
Buying a car out of state certainly hasn't been the most convenient way to go about things, but in some ways it's actually been easier. I don't know how many of you have tried, but it's difficult to buy a car without a car. Our initial search was limited to dealerships near us, and they, because space is at a premium, only kept newer cars on their lots. Our budget required that we get something a little older and we just weren't able to find that here. Once we expanded our search to places near where family could step in and help a little with some of the legwork, our options opened up considerably. In the end, going this route has also been cheaper, even when including the travel expenses to get it here. Not only were we able to find a car in our budget, but the fees that get tacked onto the sale were thousands less than they would have been here. Also, it turns out that used car salesmen in Texas are a lot less slimy than used car salesmen in New York.
So here's to finally having a place other than our entryway closet to store all the car seats we've collected over the years. Here's to family road trips and an easier way to escape to places outside the city. Here's to car payments, maintenance, high gas prices, and -- um...on second thought...
But seriously, here's to having a car again.
5 comments:
Your car has driven beautifully -- I've basically been in the car with Blake for a day. I have to say though, Blake drives like a New Yorker and the Texans haven't always appreciated it. He got honked at this morning in Galveston and he commented on that! I am excited for you to have another means of transportation and hopefully a little more freedom to do what you want. Wish you could have been here too. We've loved the little time we had with Blake and Garrett. But, they are on their way back to Brooklyn now.
Fun! We broke down and bought a car in Seoul too. I hated to do it, but having three kids enrolled in three different schools meant I needed to be in three places at once when it was pickup time and I was going insane trying to do it on foot/bus. Don't sweat it too much. Aggressive city driving is surprisingly fun! Also, you can still walk wherever you want but skipping the hour+ train ride to church in the middle of winter has been really nice for us. I'm guessing it will be for you too. :)
Good luck with all that!
If the boys need a place to crash, they can go to my mom's house in STL :)
We have 2 Pilots. I got mine first in 2009 when my husband was deployed. When I got pregnant with Finn, my husband decided it was time to trade in his beloved Jeep for something a little more family friendly. He went out one morning and got another Pilot. I guess he liked mine!
It is great, and we have plenty of room for everything. However, if/when I ever get pregnant with #4, I will probably trade it in for a van. I think it will just be a lot easier to get the twins in and out of their seats in the back if they can walk into it from the side of the vehicle, instead of having to clamor over seats to get to them every time.
That car looks really neat. Good luck with the parallel parking...I never learned how to do that and Peter gets frustrated when I purposely pass up a parking spot to go further down the street to a wide open spot.
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