Cars

Amy purchased a car recently. It's a Ford mid-size sedan...I don't remember the model. She was so happy to finally find something reasonably priced and in good condition. The car has actually been in storage for the last 9 months. We drove around and found insurance for her. (Mike and I have decided that the adult children will have their own insurance policies.) There are a few minor things wrong with the car, but it's a great deal.

Katie also found a car last week. She purchased an older model Volvo. The owner came down to almost $1000 under Kelley Blue Book value. The car has really low mileage and should be a good first car for her. We took her to get insurance and she was shocked at the cost. Our agent spent some time and eventually found a policy that was $400/6 months less that originally quoted. When Mike and I got information about our policy without the girls, we we thrilled to discover that we're going to pay $1300 a year less for our insurance. Yahoo!!!!

Today, Mike drove to a nearby park to pick Joe up from cross-country practice. The Mountaineer didn't start. So he called me to come get them in his Altima. Mike's Altima is on its last legs. He has put 400,000* miles on it. The exhaust fell off a few months ago and we don't want to invest any money in that car. So whoever is driving the Altima needs to remember to coast past police cars, so the car isn't ticketed for lack of an exhaust. I try to avoid driving Mike's car.

While I was getting dressed, Amy called. She was in Kalamazoo with Katie. Her car had stalled and wouldn't start. I told the girls to push the vehicle off the road and Mike would be by to pick them up soon.

When I reached the park, we tried to jump start the Mountaineer. It didn't work. So we all piled into the Altima and drove back to the house. Mike dropped Joe and I off, then headed to Kalamazoo. I called the girls and explained what was happening. Mike wanted them to keep trying to start Amy's car. When he arrived, they got it started and drove back to our small town. They stopped off at AutoZone and had a diagnostic test ran on Amy's car. The discovered that a wire had become unattached. It was an easy fix and everyone was quickly on the road again.

Mike drove out to the Mountaineer and pulled the battery, which he brought home to charge. The battery wasn't the problem. Mike then pulled the started and took it to AutoZone for testing. We were praying that it wasn't the starter. Mike discovered that it was a simple $2 part.

The day has been hectic and stressful, but God is so good. None of the repairs were expensive and everything was put right. I think that we will have an early night tonight and hope tomorrow is an easier day.