We Bought A New Car

We tend to keep our cars for a long time.  Five to seven years is not unusual.  My 2002 Chevy Avalanche was new when we bought it and still looks new today, 14 years later.  I love that truck.

Our 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid was only three years old and we enjoyed it for typical trips where fuel economy was important and space wasn't so important.  But most of our long trips were to Eggfests where we cooked a lot of food.  And that requires a lot of cooking gear and ice chests and chairs and tables etc, not to mention considerable luggage, camera gear and computers.  Add to that the sometimes boxes of gifts and decorations for special events.

Yes, the Toyota was way too small for our needs.  Plus, as everyone knows, the price of fuel was no longer $4 a gallon and going up, it's now $2 a gallon and going down.  So fuel economy is no longer the main issue, it is space.

There are a lot of very nice vehicles on the market today.  Probably most of them would fit our needs but we liked what Brother-in-Law, Allen said about his Honda Pilot.  He's had it for a couple of years and loves it.  And the few times we rode in it, the ride was comfortable.  So we went to our nearby Honda dealer, Honda of Spring, to see one from a buyer's point of view.  Before the day ended, we no longer owned a Toyota and were the proud owners of a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring model with more gadgets that we've ever seen.

Needless to say, we drove straight home (3 miles) and searched YouTube to watch videos that explained all of those gadgets so we could understand them.  Of course, the salesman explained them to us before we left, but we were missing some of the finer points he was making.

The car is loaded with safety features.  Traffic is so heavy and moving so fast at times that any safety feature is welcome, but the ones on the Honda make safety the number one priority while the car is being driven.  As a former Safety trainer, I very much appreciate those well designed features.

I'll watch the videos again from time to time to make sure I don't forget all the gadgets and how they work.  Eventually, I hope they all become second nature to us as we use them to their fullest in order to keep us safe.  And the one thing we felt right away is that the size and weight of the new Honda gave us more of a feeling that the car itself offered better protection than the smaller Toyota.

Here's what ours looks like.

Finally, I have to say this was the first time in over forty years of buying cars that I actually enjoyed the experience.  From the young salesman to the finance director to finalize the sale, and everything in between, it was a very easy purchase for us. If you are in the market for a new car, check out Honda of Spring.