In other big news, I finally came to a conclusion about a car. I had been searching excitedly for another limo. Though I offered it to God, asking Him to give me peace if He want's me to get a limo, and if not to take all peace and desire for it. Shortly after starting to ask that, the limo I was hoping to get sold, and almost every bit of peace and desire for it left, just like that. So I started my hunt for fuel efficient cars. The most logical one to me was to get another Toyota Echo. I've had great experiences with Echo's in the past and they get good mileage (and I can fit into them well). Though, Echo's are much harder to come by in the US as they didn't do so hot on the market as they did in Canada.
During my searches, I had a conversation with my dad that led me to considering a Toyota Prius. Through some research, and talking with a Prius owner and several dealers, we found that they are quite reliable and cheaper and less likely to have a hybrid battery failure than we had thought. The night after my dad and I had that conversation we met again and test drove several Prius's. Then we sat down and calculated out the costs. We wrote out all the numbers from initial cost, resell cost, fuel, repairs and all that such costs, and concluded that I would save about a thousand dollars a year getting a Prius verses, say a Chevy Impala that gets 27 or so MPG. Both my dad and I went together and spent time in prayer over this and that next morning, I felt God speak to me quite clearly.
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About a week or two ago, God spoke to me something that He told me a year ago when I was praying about this past year. He had told me "I will provide." I look back and can see, WOW, God did just as He had said, He provided. It wasn't always in my timing or when I wanted provision, but He provided. When I couldn't afford this bill or that expense, He provided. He was faithful all the way. About a week or two ago, God spoke to me again, telling me (regarding this next season, I believe) saying, "I will provide." I can hold on to that and remind Him of it, but most importantly, remind myself of it. He is and will be faithful.
When God told me this time that He would provide, I felt that it covered the idea of getting the Prius. I was also reminded that He had given me peace about buying this Prius before I knew this Prius existed. That itself wowed me. When God told me He would provide, I had replied saying that I didn't want to take His promise of provision and run foolishly with it, buying this car for such a high cost. Yet He told me not to worry about it, He would provide. I felt that He was in it and was freeing me to buy the car. Also lots of peace and desire for this car came in abundance.
So I called they used car dealership in Tremont (Tremont Car Connection) and put a hold on they car (via a small $100 down payment). I had found a way to get a loan for the full cost, but I wasn't able to get the money until the following Monday (this week).
After returning from Indiana on Monday, I headed out to the shop to get the car. I picked it up and it was beautiful.
As you can see the car is red and pretty sharp looking.
The car is the 2013 model (3rd generation). The first two generations (up through 2009) are too small for me. I do fit in them, as the Prius has great head room, but when I sit up straight I am not looking directly at the windshield, but rather the sun visor. The option to lower the seat didn't come until the 3rd generation in 2010.
The car has just over 135,000 miles on it and it runs great. Prius's are know for running for a while, and it's also a Toyota, so it will run good for a while.
Also, with being a Toyota, it will hold it's value well. Yes I won't likely be able to sell it for more than I bought it for, but I'll still likely be able to sell it for a lot. Then again, I've sold every car I've bought in the past for more than I paid for it - God has quite blessed me when it comes to cars.
Now this is interesting. The stick to shift is kind of spring loaded. The car is an automatic, but I don't believe it has a transmission or anything like that. When I move the stick into D, it puts me in drive, but the stick returns to it's spot - same as N, R, and B. Now the B is new to me. The B is engine breaking. If I want to save on my brake pads, I can engine break while driving by shifting into the B position.
Also what's interesting here is there is no place to shift into P. Park is not an option there. But if you notice just to the upper left of the stick is a P button. Yep, Park is a button. When you want to put the car into park, just push the button and the car will be put into Park.
The car is quite spacious for such a small car, and it has great head room. Overall, It is a great car for driving.
I haven't sad in the back seats yet, but they look pretty roomy too.
It has great trunk space too. Not only that, but if you lift up the floor of the trunk (in the picture), there are more storage compartments under there.
Again the car is a Toyota Prius.
And the Prius is a Hybrid, so it gets great mileage. It is advertised to get 48 MPG on Highway and 51 MPG in town - I love the fact that you get better mileage in town. So far I haven't gotten these numbers consistently, but then again I have only owned the car for two days. I'm sure I'll figure them out soon enough.
What a beauty!
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