Finally, a New Car

Our new car

Our first big purchase together -- even before Paul and I were married -- was a car.

After we were engaged but, I'm almost certain, before I had graduated from college, we picked out a five-year-old navy blue Saturn. I made the down payment and Paul made the monthly payments before our accounts were merged with our marriage.

A few years later we bought a Camry, which we then proceeded to sell a few days before we moved from Columbus to New York in 2007. The Camry was a much nicer car, but the Saturn's drawbacks made it the perfect vehicle for Brooklyn. It was comparatively small (that is, easy to parallel park) and already nine years old. We didn't much care if it got a few bumps and scratches, and indeed I barely flinched when one day I saw a baseball-like crater on the roof, probably caused by something falling from a tree.

Paul had talked about replacing the '98 Saturn for several years, and my negative feelings toward the project turned into indifference several months ago. But not only do I barely ride in the car, I also don't really care about cars in general. If Paul wanted a new one, he was going to have to do the legwork.

He did.

On April Fool's Day we drove our 2009 Volkswagen Jetta home from a dealership in Queens. Paul was certainly spurred by March's positive pregnancy test to get a newer, safer, more reliable vehicle, but he was also tired of his coworkers' jibes. One, hearing about the new car, said it was about time -- the Saturn was decreasing the property values of whatever neighborhood Paul happened to be driving through at the time!

In any case, Paul's happy with the purchase. And even though I've had only a handful of rides, I am, too. Sunroof, heated seats, CD player -- very luxurious compared to a car whose main feature was a cassette tape deck.

The old Saturn