Where's all my spare time?

Another busy week. This week we closed on our old house (the white one we bought 3 years ago), and bought a new car (WOOHOO!). Next week Allyson, her mom, and Jack are going to Ohio for Pure Romance training. I will be going to the Columbia river gorge for a 3 day motorcycle trip. I got some new motorcycle luggage and a pair of leather sport pants. Can't wait!

It's been almost to the year when my Integra was stolen (8/12/04). Since then I've been looking a replacement, something like a subaru legacy GT. Over time, I came to some conclusions.

1 - If I want to go fast, just go for a ride on my motorcycle. It would take a tremendous car to out perform even my modest 600cc "classic" sport bike.

2 - Why buy a new car if I prefer to commute on my bike

3 - We do need a 2nd vehicle for emergencies, i.e. Allyson's doing a PR party and something happened to Jack where I need to take him to the doctor.

4 - A 4 door sedan doesn't add any value besides having a spare car.

5 - If we ever have more than 2 visitors, we can't fit in the SUV.

6 - At $2.50+ a gallon, the SUV fuel in-efficiency is more noticeable.

7 - We talked about upgrading the SUV to a minivan as Allyson's next car.

As you can see, it makes perfect sense for me to give up my replacement car to get Allyson a minivan. The 4Runner becomes the spare car, which I can use on the weekends for golf, take jack to the ER, whatever. Allyson's mom is also here, so this gives her a car to drive while we're both at work.

(Did I mention Allyson's back at Infospace? She's contracting for a project that runs until end of October. Her old boss at AT&T is consulting at INSP and made her an offer. This is only temporary and we'll see how it goes.)

Allyson found this private car dealer. He flys down to CA and buys lease return Odysseys from Honda, brings them to Seattle and sells them. He had a 2001 EX w/ 37.5K miles, cloth interior, and power sliding doors. It is very clean car, so much so that we liked it more than a 2002 EX w/ leather. We made the deal at $17K, where a similar car at a honda dealership was going for $23K+ (I think it was an 02 though). Buying used also allows us to pay cash. That $$$ will be coming out of the profits from our home sale, and we have big plans for the rest of that $$$ (other than getting some furniture). When it is put to work, I'll let you know...

pictures below.