Metamorphosis of the Carless

Man, doing grown-up stuff like buying a car is confusing. First there's the understanding of loans, knowing what to look for, knowing who to look through (which dealers or private sellers), etc. Then there's balancing the pros and cons of this sort of investment. Then you have to consider all the additional costs: insurance, gas, oil changes, registration fees, etc. Add everything up and the big question is: can and should I afford this now?

I've been in Salt Lake for 10 months now, and the whole time I've been carless. The first month was tough because I knew no one so it was lab and home everyday. Luckily either I was out of town or people were visiting every weekend so I could make people take me to get groceries. Then my roomie moved in and at least I could go along on errands with her. Ski season hit and I was lucky enough to find a cadre of fellow skiers to go to Snowbird with, so not having a car wasn't an inconvenience. Then I had a falling out with those same people and suddenly I was marooned. No skiing for me unless I wanted to take the 2 hour trek from my house to the Bird on public transit which would have involved carrying my skis through the avenues. Not a fun prospect.

I've patched up the fences with my ski buddies (though some fences were repaired with duct tape. . . ) and I've been going up with them, but this whole experience has made me feel far too dependent on others for, well, everything. So it's time to get mobile again; enter the car search. It's been tough; I'm on a very limited budget, want something safe, reliable, CHEAP, good number of miles, and good gas mileage. It has to be 4WD or AWD, and I'd really like an SUV. I had an Explorer ('96, 252K miles; sold it for skis and a pass) that was a trooper but just wasn't going to survive the move, so I sold it for skis. My parents have a Mountaineer and an Expedition, so that's all I know and what I really love.

This week I've set up some test drives, gotten pre-approved for a car loan, and have been searching non-stop for anything that piques my interest. Here's hoping I can find something!