did you buy a new car after moving to NOVA? (insurance, house)

[stp_fan]

Not immediately, but after a while...

Did you buy a new car after going through a couple winters here, or perhaps realizing you spending a great deal of time in your car in traffic, or perhaps you just got more money now! I am thinking about doing it...

What are did you stop driving, and What car did you start driving? What was your reason?

Thanks

[ChristineVA]

Well, considering I moved from Maryland (only 30 minutes away) to Virginia, there wasn't any climate-change reason for buying a new car.

My reasons for changing vehicle types mainly has had to do with first increasing and then decreasing family size.

There are those times where I wish I had a vehicle with all wheel drive for some of those messy days in winter but the added expense and decrease in gas mileage is just not worth it for those few times when it's needed.

[cdmurphy]

When I moved to NoVA, I was driving a 1996 Toyota Corolla that I bought for myself when I graduated from college. I drove it here for eight years, then traded it in when I was nearing 100K, and was facing some expensive repair costs. I replaced it with a 2006 Hyundai Tucson, and after the last few winters I've been really glad I went with the four-wheel drive. I have 3-year-old twins, and it's great for hauling them and their stuff around (although there is no room for a passenger between their carseats). I didn't want a huge SUV or minivan, and I love the Tucson. My husband drives a 2005 Sonata that is fully paid off, and Hyundai gave us a nice loyalty discount on my car.

[HereinVA]

No.


We moved here in 2006 with a 2006 Honda Odyssey and a 1997 Volvo S70.
We didn't get a new car until the summer of 2010, when the volvo died...

[tsuric]

Had a ford escape when I moved from upstate NY to here.

Switched to a honda civic a year later.

Several reasons:

- Got sick of SUVs and paying so much in gas.
- Ford escape was starting to cost me a lot in repair costs at only 60k miles.
- Despite the complaints of winter on this thread, this area still gets far less snow than my hometown. Since I am used to driving in snow and can telecommute when it gets really bad, figured I don't need the SUV anymore for weather reasons.
- Heard from several sources that the honda civic was an extremely reliable vehicle.

[oneasterisk]

I started driving in VA. First car was a beat-up Toyota corolla hand-me-down from my Mom. I went through two more beat-up Toyota hand me downs from my brother before buying a brand new 4Runner in 2004. I had finally started making some decent money so I treated myself to my 1st ever brand spanking new vehicle. Boy do I regret doing that now that I look back!!! Car payments were $575 a month and I was 23. I didn't have any problem making payments/insurance/maintenance, it's just that I could have used the money on a lot of other things at the time.

Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 and it's been paid off for years now. No more car payments and it's empowering! Only debt is the house and I'm on a 15yr note making extra payments when I can.

[sportsterjohn]

had a 2007 chevy aveo when we got here. traded for a 2011 elanta. although the aveo got 30 mpg, my wife thought it was a safety hazard when the roads were wet. The aveo was her car. Now that I am the one with the long commute, I drive it and she drive our 05 Sportage.

[spleuchan]

I moved to VA from MD a year ago. Five months ago I decided to get a Prius so that I could get a license plate that allows me to use the HOV lane on I-66.

[Teebyrd86]

I had a 2008 Jeep Patriot that I bought new in 2007 traded it not too long ago for a brand new 2011 Honda Fit. I love my fit it is great on gas and offers a lot of room in the back for hauling stuff. I do not miss my Jeep; while I loved the styling it was a POS Chrysler product.. at 60k miles it was having issues including a leaky roof and transmission problems not to mention a peice of the plastic trim fell off.. too bad because it had slick looks.

[HEATHER72]

Nope, we haven't bought new cars while living here. We drove our cars 2000 miles across country to get here almost 5 years ago. Only had a headlight go out on my car on the trip. We had just bought hubby a 2006 Mini before our move. I still have my 10 year old Volvo S60 that has about 53k miles on it. I'm gonna be buried in the darn thing at this rate! Hubby plans on driving his car into the ground.

While I'd love a new car, I can't justify the monthly payment when it's nice to not have that expense. Besides, my car has had a bunch of work done on it in the past year (routine maintenance- new tires, brakes, water pump and timing belt, then a fuel pump replaced under recall and finally got Volvo to replace the ETM under warranty), so it's like it's a new car. I noticed this past weekend my car hood has chips in the paint from I guess rocks on the road. Not happy about that.