Ok, so I’m trying not to be materialistic here. But I have to say, I made a very tough tough decision. Either stick it out with an ailing vehicle, or sell that ailing vehicle, build my credit, and buy a new vehicle. Sure, it isn’t the smartest financial decision, but so what? I got me a MINI:

Canon 20D

It’s a girl! Don’t know it’s name yet, but it’s a Hyper Blue with Black top (HB/B) Cooper CVT. I’ve been waiting for this day for several years now. I only knew it was financially possible when I looked at the MSRP - they start at 17,000! Which is a heck of a lot of money, but not as much as I thought they cost. I figured, since BMW made em, they must be like, $60,000. Nope. Only hardship is the dealership is 45~60 minutes away. Add to that minor issues the MINI has had over the years, and one is taking a gamble. The 2005 models have improved upon the previous years, with fewer reports of problems on the various forums.

Happily, I’ve had 3 blissful weeks with the car, and can say it is a joy to drive. And, at 30.6 mpg, it doesn’t get bad gas mileage either!

You may say, “But wait John, you were going to get a Scion xB.” Nope. I put that fake photoshop of a Scion xB up there to prevent some of my coworkers from finding out about the MINI. I mean, I do think the xB looks cool, but my coworkers HATE the xB. I like the MINI 1000000% better.