The Cherries on Top
My husband and I have been in the market for a newer vehicle as my husband’s car is a 1997 Honda Accord. We’ve kept it going with the necessary repairs, but knew we’d eventually need to upgrade to something a little newer and more dependable. Thankfully, since he’s been working from home for most of the past year, we haven’t had to use his car too often and we’ve used my car if we needed to travel more than a few miles from home.
My mom has a knack for finding great car deals, so I told her to keep an ear out if she heard of anyone selling one. About a month ago, we had heard rumor that a friend of a friend might potentially be selling their Toyota RAV4 this summer and our friends gave them my mom’s phone number. I did a teensy bit of research regarding the RAV4 to make sure it was at the very least a dependable vehicle and had a good overall rating. Figuring that we’d have some time before needing to make a decision, I didn’t think too much more about it. That was, until this past Thursday.
When I checked my phone during my lunch break, there was a message from my mom letting me know that our friends’ friend was selling their RAV4. My mom then sent me photos and I squealed with delight—not only was it a Toyota RAV4, it was a red Toyota RAV4. Cherry on top number one! Backstory: when I bought my first car, I really wanted a red one, however, the car I found at that time that fit my budget was gold in color. After discussing the potential vehicle purchase with my husband, I sent a message to the owners that we were interested in looking at it and set up a time to meet them.
I took the RAV4 for a test drive this past Friday and loved it! It was spacious, drove well, and I felt comfortable using it. Thankfully, our mechanic had an opening that day and was able to look it over to make sure everything checked out okay. They were shocked that it had less than 61,000 miles on it considering it is a 2008 Toyota RAV4! It had been garage kept and the owners had taken excellent care of it. The owners then graciously let me bring it home for my husband to test drive as well.
After a lengthy discussion evaluating the pros and cons of purchasing the vehicle, my husband agreed that we could buy it. I informed the owners, got the vehicle added to our insurance policy, then we left to finalize everything. As the owners were showing us more of the vehicle features, something was revealed that I had previously missed in my excitement of bringing the vehicle back for my husband to see. Since the RAV4 has a spare tire on the back, under the main trunk area is a second, hidden truck space! Cherry on top number two! There was even a bar with netting to help hold items in place if need be. I was so excited about the extra storage space!
Trusting the Lord’s timing for all of this and seeing how He has blessed us above and beyond what we expected has truly been an experience. Since my workers’ comp case finally got settled, we had set some money aside to go toward a newer vehicle and we were able to purchase this one out-of-pocket and debt-free! My husband and I are now the grateful owners of a red 2008 Toyota RAV4 that only had 60,690 miles on it when we signed the title! The only thing we are now waiting for is our appointment at DMV in order to get it titled and registered in our name. I am super excited about the memories and adventures we will be able to make once the vehicle is considered legal to drive (we’ve got to get those license plates first!).
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