Car Shopping: Why I Am Buying a Pontiac Vibe

I need a newer car. While I love my 1999 Mitsubishi Mirage, I cannot picture this car going too many more miles. A few weeks ago it passed 200,000 miles. I bought it when it had 160,000 miles. I think, for a car that I paid $1,500 for, I got my money’s worth, but I am not picturing it giving me much more than 225,000 miles before the cost of keeping it exceeds the cost of buying another good second hand car. Earn the money for your next car. Play simple and interactive betting games at UFABET.

I would love to buy a brand new car, but I hear it’s not worth it. My richest friends do not buy brand new cars because the minute you drive that car off the lot to take it home, 10 to 15% of its value flushes right down the drain.

I take forever to shop for big items. My husband doesn’t mind because we always get the best of the best.

I like the Toyota Matrix because of its fuel economy and all of the space. I am not an SUV person, but I do not like being crammed into my car all for the sole purpose of saving a few dollars. Then I found that Pontiac makes a car just like the Matrix (same chassis, same engine) for less money. Besides, if you have a Toyota, you don’t want to part with it. Toyotas outsell everything but the Hondas even with bad press.

In that regard, I hunted down a Pontiac Vibe and gave it a test run. Sure enough it rides just like the Matrix! I was pleased until I heard that General Motors would never be selling my Vibe again because they deleted the Pontiac line. The Vibe got top ratings for quality and was one of their best selling cars but everything else in the Pontiac line was losing them money. To minimize loss, GM cut the whole Pontiac line. My husband wondered why they didn’t just create a Chevy Vibe. I guess they just wanted to unload the negative history of the Pontiac line, but what do I know?

In order to purchase my Vibe, I am putting money into a special savings account and watching the interest grow. So far we have close to $2,000 for this car. Unfortunately, the lowest price, thus far, on my car has been close to $9,000 for a 2005 model. I don’t want to buy anything older, so I guess I will have to smile at the banker and ask for a loan.

I even have a buyer for my Mitsubishi. He wants a good junky car to drive around the city of Philadelphia. He heard about us shopping for another car and he asked my husband what we want for it. I still have to chase its value down.

I am thankful that I have pretty good credit. I have been paying off all of my debt rather rapidly this year. I have three credit lines still full of debt, but they are dropping rapidly. This month, the majority of the computer debt will be paid off. Next month the rest of it and the other credit card debt will be flushed down the toilet as well.

I suppose we will be buying the car in early May. That’s when the bank will say they can give us the money. By then, maybe we will have $3000 towards an $8,500 car. Let’s hope so.