New car

Well, it has finally happened! We are now a two car family again and the kids and I are mobile. Thank goodness! I was beginning to think it was never going to happen. But after a wild week with cars we have two fully running cars sitting in our garage. We bought this new car, a 2002 Nissan Altima SL Tuesday afternoon from a guy in Seattle. I like the car, it has black leather interior and gets about 33 MPG and that makes me VERY happy.

Bryce likes it too and has spent the better part of each of the last 3 days cleaning it to within an inch of it's life. And little does it know, but it is going to get a buff and wash and all its little dings taken out. That car has never had it so good. Today Bryce took off the license plate to clean behind it and a bunch of muddy, dirty pine needles fell out. Honestly, my hubby can find places to clean on a car that you wouldn't believe. Today I also found him spray painting the windshield wipers and license plate backing black. Boy I sure do appreciate his thoroughness because I do love a clean house/car/anything! Go honey-we are a match made in heaven!

For awhile it looked like we weren't going to make our two car quota though because Monday afternoon the Trooper just wouldn't start. Hmmm, bad timing. So we borrowed Bryce's mom's car (thank you Linda for letting us use your car so much these last few months!) to get the Altima on Tuesday and had the Trooper hauled to a shop. Well, car shops never give you great news and this was no different. The Trooper needed a new fuel pump. Okay. But the fuel pump is located in the actual fuel tank. Hmm, makes it more expensive. Then another call from the shop-"did you know all the underside of your car is completely corroded?" YES, it came from UTAH and apparently was never washed by the previous owner! So every bolt they tried to take out was literally crumbling apart in their hands. So what does that mean for us? We need not only a new fuel pump but also now, a new fuel tank.

The good news to the end of the story is, instead of being the $730 they first quoted us, or being over $1000 (which I was sure it would be after all their shop hours working on corroded bolts and now a new fuel tank), we ended up under the original quote because they got a used fuel tank (which also came with a fully working fuel pump). How blessed are we? Here is the good old Trooper, it really has been a good car for us these past 6 years.