New Kid Car (Finally!)

Charlotte has always written us notes, or speeches, or power points to try to convince us of her latest scheme!

Before Charlotte turned 16 she was pestering us what car we would get for her to drive!  We told her she could save up for her own, but we knew that was probably more than she could save at this point.  She shared the min-van with me since September but it was getting to be hassle. I walked or biked a few places so she could use my car at the same time. We thought about getting a new car for me and having her drive my 2013 my mini-van is a 2013.  But when Matt asked what kind of car I'd want knew I have loved my van and would just want another one and it seemed silly to own two mini-vans.   

So Matt started researching a good kid car.  The used car prices are much higher than they used to be, it didn't seem worth it to spend so much on a used car.   So for not much more money we decided we would rather have a new car with all the safety features and the 10-year warranty since we will have 3-4 new drivers learning on it.  It is a little ridiculous to have a 16-year-old driving a brand-new car. 

Matt had Charlotte call the dealership and negotiate a good price on the phone then I dropped him off to finish the paperwork and drive it home.

Waiting anxiously outside for dad to come back!  She was at the temple doing baptisms with friends when I dropped him off at the dealership!

Beyong excited! She asked for a car for her birthday and Christmas!

All the kids were so excited since it's going to be all of their car (we hope).  They feel a lot of ownership over taking good care of it and give Charlotte a lot of pressure to not scratch it.

We all piled in for a test drive around the block a few times!

 

Marti and Spencer came by and went on a test drive too!

Charlotte immediately started going to friends, babysitting, violin, early morning temple trips- you name it!  This girl has loved to be busy from the time she was a baby!  She's only driven it to school a couple times since sophmores don't have parking spots and the high school parking lot is the scariest place to drive in town!  Maybe next school year.

2025 Honda Accord hybrid!  Hopefully, we don't regret getting a new car for the kid car.  It uses the electric engine under 45 mph then the gas engine charges the electric engine so you never have to plug it in- so it gets really good gas mileage which was another feature we wanted in a kid car.  Down the road if one of them wants to buy it off of us they can but for now it's our car that they get to drive.  It has been an adjustment trying to figure out where to park with 3 cars but Matt is relieved that the decision is finally made and Charlotte is thrilled not to be sharing the mini-van with me!