Car shopping!

We are car shopping again! It's been a year since we got our first car and when we bought that one, I was pretty adamantly against it. As I said last year, I thought it was a waste to pay so much for a car when there are a million taxis every direction you turn. Carlos said it would make our life easier, give us more freedom, and make us feel safer if we had a car. I couldn't imagine that driving would be easier and more freeing than calling the portero (the combination door men/armed security guards that are at the entrance to our building) and requesting a taxi that could take us wherever we want while we relax in back.

As I spent more time here, I realized (as I usually do) that Carlos was right. While taxis can be easy (unless you go to the grocery and need to try to squeeze everything into the nearly non-existent trunk), and freeing (unless you want to explore a new place, or talk about personal issues- money, work gossip, or even speak in English at all {Carlos has a fear of us getting taken advantage of or have bad things happen if we are obviously foreigners}), they can also make you fear for you life and remove all opportunities for spontaneity. One of my favorite things to do has been driving around and exploring new places with Carlos. We NEVER could do that in a taxi. They are too rush rush get you where you're going and kick you to the curb (and god forbid you slam the door). Also, taxis aren't meant for safety. They are tiny little things, and more and more we hear about taxis getting rear ended, and the people in the back getting seriously hurt. Not to mention the potential for getting robbed.

So here we are- one year later we have a car but we are becoming faced with the same issues we had a year ago. The more time I spend out of the house, the more time Carlos spends in a taxi. He is against me using taxis until I am a lot more fluent  and ideally not before I can pass for Colombian so I don't get taken advantage of. He absolutely despises taxis so he's hating it. I have had the car every morning since I joined the gym since I go while the kids are in school and then sometimes I need to go to the grocery or run errands and then need the car in the afternoon too. So he's basically had enough.

Another reason we want a new car is space. We have a Nissan Versa now which has a decent amount of space, but if we need to take something large in the car, or suitcases we need help from Carlos' parents who have an SUV. We wanted an SUV last year, but I was set on buying something cheap since cars here are outrageously priced. Now that I have gotten used to the idea I'm more at peace with the fact that you can't really compare prices. Here it costs what it costs. I went through this with the carseats too.. Paying 10x the price I would have paid in the states was a kick to the gut, but what can you do?

A last reason having another car will be nice is a little thing here called "pico y placa". This policy was enacted in order to reduce traffic within city limits. It roughly translates to "beak and [license] plate". As I said, very rough translation. But what it refers to is the last number (beak) of the license plate on your car. Every day of the week, 2 numbers are restricted from entering Bucaramanga city limits. Our day is Wednesday. And it never fails, every Wednesday morning I have something I need to go to the mall for and then I remember, ugh pico y placa. FCV is here in Floridablanca so pico y placa doesn't apply and whenever I need to go into the city we can just switch cars! As Emma would say, "no problem!!"

We were all over the place on what car we might buy and have been doing hardcore research and shopping for going on 3 weeks now. We both got kind of attached to a new Ford Explorer we saw at the auto show last weekend, but then we saw it price tag. It starts at around $60,000.  (According to kbb.com, which has become one of my most visited websites, the same one in the US is just over $29,000.) It carries the same price tag as an Audi Q5. (US MSRP over $45,000.) So we set out yesterday morning to try see all the cars we were interested in. We wanted to check out Toyotas, Volvos, and Hondas, but struck out on all counts. Then we were driving to the mall to have some lunch and play time and wallow in the defeats of the day. As we were passing though, we saw a car show going on AT THE MALL!! Right away we saw Toyotas and Hondas!! The Volvo dealership in Bucaramanga closed down, so there weren't any of them around though. So.. we think we decided on a car finally!!! I think we'll follow the path of my parents and get a CR-V! They are having a sale this month at the dealer and it looks like we may be able to bring one home for under $40,000! Hopefully :)