the car

So, I've all but bought my car. Did the test drive today, signed on the dotted line to put it on hold and start the inspection/registration process. I go back on Monday to finalize things.

I can't believe God's lead me to buy such a nice car.

My hope is that I drive it until it dies (or I leave South Africa), and that it will be a wise investment.

Amazing ...

I sat in line today at the Traffic Office (S.A.'s equivalent of the DMV), waiting to get a traffic register certificate so that I would be entered into their sytem and thus, would be able to own a car here. While in that line, I talked to a South African man who was quite disgusted over how it took multiple trips to get the titling done for his vehicles. As we chatted, I thought of the many trips I've had to make to just get to the place of being able to purchase a car here.

There were the 5 trips to FNB (bank) that proved fruitless because each time I went, there was something not quite right about my paperwork.

There were the multiple trips to the mall to try and set up a department store credit card so that I could have a statement sent to the house to "prove" that I lived there.

There were the multiple trips to car dealerships and auction houses where I looked at 100s of cars.

There's the two trips to the Traffic Office that I'm not going to complain about ... they almost didn't accept my paperwork because it said "Visitor" in my passport.

There were the three trips to another bank that actually let me open a bank account without too much hassle ... imagine, three trips = not too much hassle!

And now, there will be the multiple trips to the car dealership where I think I'm going to buy my car. It's the end of the process, so to speak, and I'm really surprised I'm not more worn out!

Here's to hoping that God makes it clear which vehicle I'm to buy, and that I won't try to convince him to let me buy something cheaper. :o)

Shopping, shopping ...

SO, I've been hitting the car shopping pretty hard lately. To say it's been stressful is pretty much an understatement. I've looked at well over 100 cars now, and I'm pretty much at the end of myself and any opinion I could possibly have about cars.

For a long time I thought I wanted a used Honda Ballade, which is like the old Honda Accord. In the States, they're great cars. Here in S.A. spending less than R60,000 on a car is risky because of all the damage that has potentially been done to it. So, I waited.

Then I looked at the Toyota Corolla. I'd owned one before, didn't really like it all that much, but it was reliable and easy on maintenance. Here in S.A. Toyotas (esp the smaller and older ones) are at the top of the hitlist for carjacking and theft. Yay.

So, I started to branch out ... VW Polos (also on the hitlist, but the hatchback/3 door model is more likely stolen), Mazda 3s, Nissans, Kias. To say that I was overwhelmed by the end of it is another understatement.

Something had to be done, though. I'd been buying a car since December 2007. I will soon lose the privilege of driving the ministry car because I'm moving to the new house. We'll have even more volunteers here, which means more people sharing one car. So, the time has come.

I went out today to a dealership that was recommended to me and I think I may have found my car. I'm not going to stress over the fact that it's newer than any car I've driven, that it's nice, with only 55,000k on the clock. I'm going to trust that my donors in the States will understand that considering reliability, safety, theft/carjacking, insurance and the needed size for running kids and all their stuff around, I got the best buy for the money I had available.

So, it looks like I might be buying a VW Polo Classic if there's nothing wrong with it. Test drive is Monday. It's a trade-in. And I'm walking out of there under budget, which means there's money for insurance and maintenance.

Have I mentioned that not getting ahead of God and procrastinating just a little has really worked in my favor? The exchange rate right now enables me to spend the same money and get R20,000 more vehicle for it. Gotta love how God works!

So, please pray that all goes well and that the hunt will be over!