The Scoop:
We have a great opportunity to buy a used vehicle (a hijet "micro" bus). Some missionaries are moving in August and are selling theirs. It's a manual (which means less parts to fix), gets good gas mileage, and is only about 3 years old (3 cylinders). The price is $4000 (which is a really good price for it's age and condition here). The missionaries who bought the car bought it right off the boat, so that cut down on dealer costs, etc. which is why it is such a deal.
Pros:
-We will be able to actually go places. With the baby. Without walking (not that walking's bad, but it's limiting).
-We'll be able to pick up teachers from the airport.
-I could go grocery shopping much more easily.
-We can do day trips to the beach, etc. without having to rent a vehicle (only pay for gas). Which means we may actually take a day or two away (we've been to the beach all of 3 times this year. But, we're going tomorrow... wahhooo. Anyway....)
-We can go on vacation without renting a car. And we can take other people with us.
-As we are wanting to get pregnant again sometime this year, we will be able to drive to Santiago for Dr. appointments (and this is a biggie in consideration).
-We can sell the car when we eventually leave for almost what we paid for it. Automobiles do not depreciate much here. Which is why even old cars are usually expensive.
Cons:
-We would have to almost deplete our usable savings (we're absolutely not touching our savings set away for when we eventually move back). And at this point, we have no way to get more savings, as we lose money each year being here. Although God could provide the money, as he has time and time again!
-I wouldn't walk as much. Although I usually just don't go many places because it's such a pain...
So, advice and prayers would be much appreciated! Thanks! :)
2 comments:
My immediate thought was "buy it!"
Then I remembered you had some issues with your bike being stolen, and how you struggled with buying a new one. Is there a risk of that happening again, only with the car?
Also, if you have that much money in savings, I don't know if it's the best idea to use it all up on this purchase.
Do you REALLY need it? Like, really really need it? Will you be able to afford maintenance on it- new tires, oil changes, blah blah blah.
It's so much easier to be rational with other people's money!
Unfortunately, if we want to have another child we really should buy a car. And this is the best deal we'll find (by people we trust, for a reliable car). We could factor in taxi costs, but going to Santiago in a taxi would be over a hundred per trip, and it wouldn't be very safe, as taxis don't have seat belts (we haven't stressed too much about it, as we don't take taxis much now, but I'd be more worried about doing that frequently with a baby, especially with how people drive here).
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