What Ana Does

For a very long time, David has been dreaming about buying a Jeep Wrangler. Just a fun third car to drive to the pool or beach, out for ice cream. Have his girls' hair blowing in the wind and enjoying a summer day out. For reasons only he understands, this dream took on some movement while we've been in Paris. He's been scouring ads for months, understanding pricing, milage, wear-and-tear, etc. and all there is to expect from a used Jeep. Yup, it's our first weekend in the States and he found one that fit in his criteria. It's a 2008 in olive green and it was love at first sight. For a used car, it's looking pretty good. Soft top. Manual transmission and all. My argument was, this is as good as it's going to get, it's in the budget he set aside and it's ready to go. I'm not spending all my Saturdays in the States going from one dealership to another looking at subtly differences in used cars. After long deliberations, it's ours! And ...

In a nutshell, my diesel Jetta is involved in the VW scandal and, according to the news, I will be soon be parting with it. ( My post from when I bought the car ... all happy and excited about the "cleaner" engine. Pshf. ) Honestly, I'm not thrilled about shopping for a new car. When we bought this car in 2013 I was looking forward to at least a decade of NOT car shopping. All the time and thought into the different options, MPG, color -- weighing all the advantages and disadvantages. And dealing with car salesman! Ugh. There are work camps in Siberia that are more fun. But, here we are. So I've been starting to give it some thought. What I like about my car. What I'm missing. And looking around parking lots at models that are cute. As of today my must list , which sits on top of the usual new-car features, is: 1. heated seats 2. sun roof 3. room in the trunk for a bag of soccer balls, four chairs and four backpacks. 4. fuel efficient Additionally, I...