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Wednesday, May 5, 2021

We Bought a New SUV

Happy Cinco de Mayo all!

So I feel like I should have mentioned this awhile ago, but I didn't. And I tried to write about this in a Friday Favorites post (last week) and it was just too long for a favorite, so I changed it into a post of its own...

I never told you all this, but we bought a new car a few months back. I am not sure why I didn't tell you all. So this is how the story goes...back in November I had someone ask me to purchase my car when I was at a local grocery store. I thought it was a bit weird, but the guy was in his 50s and I had seen him before at the store, so I knew it probably wasn't a scam. I told him no that I had no interest and went about my day.

The next day I looked up my cars value (2018 Honda CR-V) on Kelly Blue Book. I must have clicked the wrong link in there because not even 2 hours later I was getting a bunch of local dealerships calling and emailing me about my car. I hadn't even put any of my info in, but you know how the internet is. Anyways, I looked into the price and told Rory about the calls. And at this time, I had about $11K in equity on my SUV.

I was getting about 5 calls a day. It was crazy. I kept telling them I wasn't interested in selling my car. I did talk to the Mercedes dealership more as they were just so persistent. And I dreamed of a Mercedes, but knew it wasn't within our budget.

Fast forward a couple months and we thought, if my car has that much interest, maybe we should sell it and get a family car. Something we can both drive around (even though I drive it mostly) and has more room for the kids as they get older and have friends in the car. 

So we test drove some cars over a couple weeks. We test drove the Acura MDX (like the Honda Pilot but luxury), Audi Q5 and Q7, Volvo XC 60 and XC 90. Also, I did a bunch of research on the cars in between the weekends that we test drove these cars. We also looked at (online) the Genesis GV80, the Infiniti QX60, and the Kia Telluride. I also started following The Car Mom on IG for some negotiating advice, for her amazing car tours and to see what my options out there were. She has a ton of car tours on her website and she has the one we ultimately picked.

We quickly took off the Infiniti and Genesis as they were in Sacramento and we didn't want to drive 2 hours every time we had a service. Then we took off the Acura. I loved my Honda and the Acura was really nice....like super nice, but we wanted something different. And then we took off the Kia Telluride as we would have to order one since our Kia and ones within 250 miles were sold out. And we didn't even have one near us to test drive to see if we liked it.

I have always wanted an Audi and I loved the Q7. The seats in the second and third rows move with a simple push of a button. It is all electronic. It has a great 360 camera, an Audi light that projects to the ground when you open the doors, a great sound system (super important for me), it handled well, had great horsepower, beautiful interior, well made, large moon roof and so many other creature comforts. 

The Volvo XC 90 had a large moon roof, massaging chairs, a cabin air filter, amazing sound system, tons of space, was very fast, had 4 different "road/speed" features (eco, everyday use, dynamic and off road) a refrigerated glove box, so many creature comforts and amazing reliability.

We took another week or two to figure out what we wanted to do. I know both vehicles are luxury vehicles and have great reviews, reliability and are more within our price range (Mercedes and Range Rover are not). But when it came down to it, the Volvo will last longer. The salesman at the Audi dealership told me that the Audi is amazing and that is all he drives, BUT they are short term cars meaning they are meant to last for 100K to 150K miles. The Volvo can go way longer than that. Plus the Volvo has built in booster seats in the back (they are the only vehicle to do this so far). I am a huge fan of that.

So as you can guess, we went with the Volvo XC 90. The XC 60 was amazing and cheaper, but we wanted more room with a third row.

So I introduce you to our car...

Volvo XC 90

Volvo XC 90

And now you know. And no we won't be buying a new car for a long time. Hopefully at least 10 years. 

24 comments :

  1. Oh fancy! Congrats on the new car! I have a QX60 and love it, the third row was important to me if we ever have any of our nieces or nephews with us, or Zoe's friends when she is a little older. I don't think I even looked at Volvo, but I love the way your car looks! Its pretty!

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    1. I have driven the QX60 as a rental car and loved it. The third row is super important. And thank you. I am very happy with our choice.

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  2. It’s absolutely beautiful! I drive an Audi Q5, my third, only because we don’t need the third row anymore. I’ve heard really good things about the Volvo! you’ll love it.

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    1. I loved the Q5. It was definitely at the top of my list as well. I am glad you love it!

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  3. So did you end up selling your old car? The new one looks great!

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    1. I did sell my old car and I got quite a bit of money from it. I forgot to put that in there. Ha.

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  4. Congratulations!! I cant even tell you how excited I am that you posted this because we're looking into getting a second car and the Volvo XC90 is a the top of the list!! xo, Biana BlovedBoston

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    1. Oh I can give you so much info on this car. And as I said above, the Car Mom has the 2021 Volvo XC90 tour. I LOVE mine and definitely researched way more than I thought I would. I can't wait to see what you get. Let me know what you want to know and I would be happy to talk about the actual type, features, etc.

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  5. What a beautiful car! We're so not car people, but this one is definitely beautiful!

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    1. I didn't think I was a car person, but then I got this and I am really excited about it. I haven't been excited about a car since I had my Subaru Legacy before the girls were born.

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  6. She's SO purrrrty! My husband loves the Volvo SUV's and is trying to convince me to switch when my lease is up <3

    Green Fashionista

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    1. Oh I would go with what your husband says. I love mine so much. So worth it. They are very pretty!

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  7. Ooooh congratulations!! It's beautiful!! It's too bad you couldn't test drive a Telluride... they are impossible to find right now. I do love mine so much, though! I'm sure you'll love the Volvo... it's such a reputable brand!

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    1. I know you love yours and we wanted to test drive one. They have been in low inventory for a long time and the time to "make" one and send it here is about 4 to 6 months now. Not that we were in a hurry. But I did consider them. We even checked all the way to the Bay Area and those ones were the "lower" end ones and so we just opted out of them. I LOVE the Volvo so much and never thought I would want/need a luxury vehicle.

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  8. It's so nice to get a new car... that smell. That wanting to keep it clean. Makes you sit up higher in it - enjoy!!!!

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    1. I love that smell. I didn't want the girls bringing any food in there and I had refused getting take out in it for about a month. I love it so much and now that I bought that car vacuum, I keep it very clean!

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  9. Noooooiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!!! (Said in the best Tiffany Haddish voice I could do HAHA)

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  10. It’s beautiful! Love all the features. Massaging chairs?!

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    1. Yes. How crazy right? I had no idea that cars had that now.

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