The Luna Story

There seems to be some confusion and wondering amongst my friends as to why I got a new car. I've been getting gchat and email questions about it. I love y'all for being concerned, but it's cool.. I know what I'm doing. ♥

For starters, I'm not stupid enough to buy something I can't afford. Y'all know that. Y'all also know that money had been exceptionally tight for the 4 months Steve was unemployed and I was paying as many of our bills as I could handle and still pay for my own. Now, on the paltry salary I'm making, that was way worse than paycheck to paycheck since our rent was 90% of 1 of my 2 paychecks each month. And it's not like he wasn't going out every single day and trying to find something, the hiring processes were just taking forever. Since he's been employed, and actually likes his job, money has been much better for the last few months. However, it's not my business to post about that stuff, so y'all really didn't know anything that was actually happening. I know, some of you are on my FB and saw the tiny tidbit's of info I was posting there. But I don't post like 80% of my life on FB because there are too many people on there that I just don't care to share everything with.

My payments on Luna are about $20 more than my Moxie payments and still under $300. I managed to talk them down well over $150 off their original "suggested" monthly payment. I was at the dealer for about 7 hours by myself haggling and very sick the whole time. After a while, they were actually impressed with how I was holding my ground and not just rolling over and taking what they offered. I've learned how the game works with my previous 2 cars and knew what I wanted to pay and just wasn't accepting it. I did almost leave a few times – my dad and Steve were proud of that. LOL. When I brought the 2nd set of Moxie keys in over a week later, they knew who I was without even asking my name and asked about the car, etc.

I did a ton of research on cars in the weeks leading up to buying her. Again, I'm not a nitwit. I had a plan, I knew what I wanted, then during my research I switched what I wanted. I was shocked, quite frankly, that the Hyundai Elantra Touring had such high ratings and amazing reviews over and over again. Plus, hello my price range! I was shocked as I had a Hyundai prior to Moxie and was so over it by the time she was 5 years old. Notice a trend there? I keep my cars for 5 years then trade them in. :)

So here are some of the better things I love about Luna, in no particular order...

• Bluetooth
• Sunroof
• Crossover SUV/ wagon
• 4 times the amount of storage space
• Huge back seat to hold 2-3 baby seats
• XM radio (just found that today!)
• Brand spanking new 2010 model car
• Phenomenal warranty
• Roadside assistance
• Automatic – ok, not so crazy about that, but important for when we have kids *I* think

Financially:

• $8200 for Moxie – let that sink in for a bit :D
• Graduate student discount
• Purchase/ financing price is $3,000+ off the sticker price and on the low end of the "price paid" in all the reviews I've read
• Virtually the same size gas tank and mileage as Moxie – at current prices, $25 to fill it
• Full coverage insurance was $15 more/month on a brand spanking new 2010 car
• Moxie needed roughly $1500 of work as she was 5 years old, needed new brakes, a new battery and replaced motor mounts