Volkswagen from Valdosta

This morning, Jeff took Addison to daycare since they were still open. Emerson helped me make some scrambled egg sandwiches for our breakfast, which she also did coincidentally exactly three years ago…

Same stool, same skillet, almost the same spatula, still the best girl being the sweetest helper to her Mommy!

After Jeff got home and cleaned out his car, we took Emerson to spend the day at my parents house, and we took a little road trip to Valdosta. We had lunch when we got there at a really great BBQ spot (with a salad bar! Which I love!), and then headed next door to the O’Steen car dealership.

I haven’t written much about it here in my blog, but for a while now we’ve had basically neverending car trouble, with one or more of our cars, and sometimes we only have one working car while the other is on blocks in the carport for Jeff to work on it at night when he can. We haven’t had a car payment since 2020 though, and our goal was basically to “drive em till the wheels fell off,” which I think we might have done.

Jeff started doing serious car research and searching about a month ago, and we’ve had lots of discussions about lots of options. Then one day last week, he registered for some sort of car-finding thing from one of the car guys he watches on YouTube, to help find stuff in our area. Then less than a day later, a lady from O’Steen Volkswagen in Valdosta contacted him with a link for a small SUV that looked like a great deal. He did some research and comparisons, and it turns out that it really was a great deal. We had been looking at other used SUV’s that were older, with more miles, for practically the same price. And we were finally like, “All those other cars seem like a bad deal now, in comparison with the VW!”

So today we finally made it up there, and after we test drove it, and sat through too many hours of paperwork and waiting negotiating and trade-in and hoopla, we bought an almost-new car! It’s a 2024 VW Taos, that the dealership used as their “loaner car,” so it’s only got 7,000 miles on it, but it was an incredible deal, as a certified pre-owned vehicle. Once it was all finalized, we actually specifically asked that they put one of these Christmas bows on the front for some photos!

We’ll be glad to have a much more reliable car, that needs wayyyy less DIY maintenance all the time, but Jeff was actually feeling a little bittersweet to say goodbye to his 17-year-old Volvo, that he’s had for 8 years. But being the good hubby that he is, he’s actually gonna start driving my Dodge Avenger, and I get to drive the new VW!

Once we got home (after picking up both girls from my parents’ house) I was texting with my parents tonight trying to come up with some name options for the new car, because yes, we name our cars in this family. It always has to be an alliteration, and this time, I’m thinking it has to be German. So some of the options are Violetta, Valkyrie, Vilhemena, or Vickorina. I guess we’ll take a poll on the name, or just see what feels right!

We never expected to find something so “new,” in such great shape, or especially not from what I consider a fancier “brand,” or whatever it’s called. Although, my dad pointed out Volkswagen literally means “peoples car” and was originally created to be an affordable car for the general public.

Anyways, I’m thanking the Lord for helping us with this huge purchase! I had serious decision anxiety about it, but I trusted Jeff and knew he had done enough research and had enough knowledge about it to know we were making a good decision. Can’t wait to take this little SUV on many family adventures as the girls grow up, for hopefully a long time to come!