I just wanted to pop in and share with y’all that I bought a NEW CAR! After the car accident that killed my husband our car was totaled. I was heartbroken over much more than the loss of the car and honestly was scared to drive for several months… so it took a while before I was ready to even look for a new car.
When I finally started looking (around the 4 month mark) safety was the number one priority on my list. My hubby had been driving our new car during the accident and while it was a wonderfully maintained car from 2016 it was itty bitty. We bought it for the gas mileage because he worked an hour away from home but it was just so tiny.
We would joke that it was a clown car since he was 6’4″ and the car was barely big enough to fit him!
Even though the police said he would have been DOA even had be been driving my Expedition driving another small car was absolutely not in the books for me. I don’t think I will ever be comfortable driving a tiny car again. And since the expedition is older and not reliable I decided to get rid of it and use the insurance money from the totaled car to buy a new-to-me, reliable SUV.
So I started looking for a medium SUV type car that was super safe and had enough room to haul a dresser… since I would need trunk space hauling around furniture for the antique booth.
After a little bit of research it came down to the Kia Sportage or the Ford Escape. My family has had Ford’s for years and I absolutely love them… going off book and purchasing a Kia was a little strange for me.
BUT when I looked at the safety features the Kia won hands down… this little SUV has 360 degree airbags which was very very very important to me. I still have small panic attacks when I get in heavy traffic so finding a car that helped me feel safe was my number one priority.
I compared the two cars and found that they were only fractions or inches apart on most of their stats so I felt comfortable going with the Kia… it’s absolutely beautiful and the 360 degree airbags really pushed it over the top.
Of course, once I decided on the type of car I had to decide where to purchase it from. We did do a test drive of a 2017 Kia Sportage at the local Kia dealer but this car was fire engine red and had alllllllllllll the bells and whistles bringing the price tag to over 40k.
Nope, not for me.
Finding the Right Car
My Mom suggested I look at Hertz Car Sales (no this post is not sponsored by anyone… I paid for this car completely out of my own bank account). My parents have bought 3 or 4 cars from Hertz over the years and they are always absolutely wonderful. They are typically a year old and are being sold to make room for the latest model.
Plus as rental cars they have low mileage and meticulous care… Hertz keeps up with the oil changes and maintenance like champs. I found this model for sale in Columbus, GA which is a couple hours away and with 44k miles and a 15k price tag I was definitely intrigued. I set up a test drive through the website and since they have a rent to buy option I was able to rent this exact SUV for 3 days… drive it around, have it checked by my mechanic… and if I liked it (which I obviously did) fill out the paper work to purchase from home.
Which means I didn’t even have to go back to Columbus to finish the process.
Adding in Covers and Accessories
All in all it was a great experience and I was able to pick up the car and take it home to drive for a while… which worked great with my plan to deck it out with pretty front seat covers and even a cover for my steering wheel. I’m not the neatest person and covers help to protect my car seats from getting messed up in the first place.
I absolutely love the black and rose gold look… the black looks clean, sleek and matches the interior while the rose gold is kind of my signature color these days.
Of course, my cup holder coasters are my absolute favorite new accessories. They’re super absorbent stone coasters which means they collect water so that you never have a little pool of liquid at the bottom of your cup holder.
I picked up 4 of these little coasters so that I have two for the front and two for the back… and for allllll of the different patterns available I picked this white and gray marble pattern that would look great with my rose gold logo on the front. Technically the listing says custom monogram but it was super easy to work with Angela to add my logo instead.
All of the Settings
Okay there are definitely pros and cons on the settings of this little SUV. There are so many different readings and I love love love the maintenance settings. While Hertz does great oil changes and maintenance on their cars this particular SUV was sold as is and the tires definitely need to be replaced. Not a big deal in the long run and I was told about this up front so I wasn’t too worried.
Either way a huge pro (for people like me who are NOT mechanically inclined) is that the dashboard will not only tell you when there is a problem (in the form of bold yellow lights!) but if you flip through the different modes it will tell you what the problem is… in this case the back right tire is low on air.
I love that it tells you which tire is low and the psi reading… it’s basically fool proof. Once I get the new tires on this baby it will be perfect!
The only downside of the entire SUV (in my opinion) is that it doesn’t tell you how many miles you have to empty. It does have a gas meter (obviously) but I have become spoiled having the “50 miles to Empty” reading on my last couple cars.
I also really hate when my car gets low on gas which battles with my dislike for stopping to put gas in the tank until the last possible second.
On the other hand it has a great spot for little tennis ball storage which is a must have when you travel with a yorkie like I do.
Safety for Everyone… Even Yorkies!
I mean just look at that little face! Since I am completely obsessed with safety these days I went all out with a new carseat for Bitty. She goes everywhere with me but like most yorkies… she just wants to sit on my lap while she does it.
Unfortunitely that’s not the best idea when you’re driving.
She is trained to sit in the passenger seat and not bug me but there are so many stories of yorkies hitting the dashboard or going through the windshield in an accident… she’s only 9 pounds so that would not end well.
I looked at quite a few car seats for dogs and finally settled on this one. It is fairly tall so that she can still look out the window and I picked the large one since it has two built in leashes so two small dogs can sit side by side and be seat belted in. I do bring my Mom’s dachshund with me from time to time so they can both sit in here nicely… just look at those little faces!
Of course, the most important part is that the bottom of the seat has a channel to place the seat belt of the car through so that she’s securely locked into place… kind of like installing a car seat for a baby. Between the seat belt channel and the harness in the car seat Bitty isn’t going anywhere.
Of course, I am never attach a leash to Bitty’s collar since it is so dangerous with little dogs… just imagine that little neck getting caught if her leash were suck. I always use a harness so that the pressure goes to her chest and body instead of her throat and in case of a car accident I went with a wider harness instead of a skinnier model.
I know I’m a little obsessive but with the hubby’s accident you would be too.
Of course, Bitty just likes that she can see out of the window and that the Sportage has air vents in the back that can point right at her. This little dog loves to put her face right into the air stream from the vents!
Of course, as much as Bitty loves her little car seat she loves getting out of the car and playing even more! She is a dog after all… and even though we love bows and being a cute little spoiled brat she loves running and rolling around in the dirt even more.
And since we had just come from the groomers she had to roll around in the dirt EXTRA since she was so darn clean. Silly pup.
What Colors is the Sportage Available In?
Okay… on to the next part. When I was going over my list of must-haves for this car color was a big one. I know that color isn’t always something you can pick. Sometimes it is what it is and you have to go with what is available but this new car is definitely the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought outright… and it’s the nicest car I’ve ever had.
Since I was spending the money I really wanted a blue car. The Sportage comes in 8 colors… hyper red, pacific blue, burnished copper, sparkling silver, black cherry, clear white, mineral silver and snow white pearl. Which means I was looking for the pacific blue.
While I was not impressed with the hyper red that the dealership had when I searched the Hertz car sales website pacific blue was the only Sportage they had available. So I’m pretty sure it was fate.
Either way if you’re looking at the Sportage the pacific blue is definitely blue but in person looks almost dark gray or even a steely blue. I absolutely love it!
Check Out that TRUNK!
Trunk space is very important when you’re hauling furniture and supplies for your business. Basically I need enough space to fit a dresser or table even though I won’t be able to fit any super large pieces.
I actually had a chance to check out the trunk after 2 days of having this little Sportage when I found the PERFECT TV media cabinet… if you’ve been following along you know that I’ve been looking for a new media cabinet since Haven 2 years ago! That is quite a while.
The trunk space is actually great on this little SUV although I did add a trunk floor mat since the new TV media console actually left a long white mark on the carpet when we put it into the trunk. One mark isn’t a huge deal but I’m placing furniture in and out of the trunk almost weekly now and I don’t want a million white marks… plus this is a new car so I’d prefer not to mess it up on day 2.
I actually love how the spare tire is held in the trunk in it’s own little crawl space. It keeps it out of the way while still easily accessible. It seems like more and more cars are doing this as opposed to keeping the spare tire underneath the car.
Plus since there is quite a bit of room under in this little crawl space I can use it to hold some of the supplies I always keep in my trunk without having them cluttering up my car. Things like a hoodie for if I stop at a movie or dinner plus the grass seed and hose nozzle I’m using to grow the grass on the hub’s grave.
All in all I absolutely love this little SUV and am so happy with my purchase. I have been driving it for about two months now and definitely love it. It’s super smooth to drive, turns easily and stops quickly.
I can put all kinds of things in the trunk and Bitty’s new car seat keeps her from getting muddy paws everywhere. I wish the hubs was here to drive it since he absolutely loves new cars… but I know he’s happy I have a new, safe car.
Let me know what you think in the comments and what type of car you have… I’m always interested in your opinions!
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