Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Saying Good Bye to the Saturn

This morning we sold our 1994 Saturn SL1. We bought it with 12 miles on it and as of this morning it had 232,491 miles on it. I think we got our money's worth. Did I mention that it still had its original clutch?!

Like so many decisions we make every day, the decision to sell came down to a simple matter of dollars and cents. While it has been downright convenient to have three cars (check out The Parable of the Spare Car for the back story) for the most part one of the cars just sat in the driveway.

Also, in the 10 months since we bought the spare car, Jim started carpooling to work. This, combined with the cost to insure an extra car, gave us ample reason to cut the third car free.

Some, like my 13 and 14 year old daughters, would argue that we should have kept the Saturn with the thought of giving it to our daughters to use when they got their licenses. Although it felt like the Saturn would run forever, I'm not sure the original clutch would hold up teaching not one but two new drivers on it!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One thing I like about your blog is reading the way you cut costs. I really enjoy seeing that!

Do you think you will purchase a good used car for your two girls? Will they share in the purchase price? Although my daughter, Aiyana, is a lot younger (almost three) I'm already thinking about this. :-)

Katie said...

Hey Vegan Momma,

I've thought about this a lot. I bought my first car myself when I was just shy of 18. I needed a car to commute to work and college but my mom needed her car to shlep my siblings around. My parents didn't have the money to buy me a car. Buying it myself was the only logical choice.

I think that first big purchase helped form some of my opinions about money. I had to pay for gas and insurance as well so I had to learn to budget. I think making me buy my own car was probably one of the best things my parents ever did.

So to answer your question, the girls will definitely share in some or possibly all of the purchase price. They both know this and they just take it in stride.