love at first sight (or 'our new car')

We bought a new car.

I know. We're shocked too. We didn't really mean to. Well we did, but we didn't anticipate doing the deed for a while yet. Then on Tuesday evening, after 5pm, Frank suggested we pop down quickly to the local Subaru dealer to check out their second hand vehicles.

And there we saw it. The Subaru Forester of our dreams. A 2003 2.5SX Luxury model.

Actually we didn't know 2.5SX Luxury models existed before our quick trip to the dealer, but we soon learned all about alloy wheels, fog lights, super duper suspension, leather seats, sun roofs and six stack CD players.

We smiled politely, thanked the dealer and drove off into the sunset to 'discuss' our options. I still don't think either of us thought we'd end up buying a car. We were just checking out possibilities. But it was a nice car, one we both liked... so we phoned back and booked in a test drive for the next morning.

Wednesday saw the sun rising and Frank and I excitedly stepping out to the car dealer. We settled into the car and fell in love. Oh la la. Beautiful.

In the end we found another 2003 SX model in immaculate condition (it even had a floor cover in the boot!). And 45 minutes later we'd signed up to buy it. 16 hours after popping down quickly to the dealer.

How did that happen?!

In our defense, we have been discussing the purchase of another car for several months - it wasn't a complete impulse buy! We've debated the beauty (or not) of various makes and models, observed multitudes of cars on the road, dropped into various car yards and researched the strengths and weaknesses of numerous vehicles on the internet. Somehow when we stepped into the dealer on Tuesday... the time was right, the car was right... and so we bought it.

The features I particularly love about this car are windows that open and close on demand (my poor little Corolla's window won't budge no matter how hard I turn the knob); a driver's door that unlocks from the outside, negating the need to climb over the gear stick from the passenger side (I still haven't had the lock fixed since that Thursday night break in); and an absence of dirt and spider webs (I hate washing the car).

But I promise I will wash this car more often! (I haven't washed the old once since... um... Christmas) I must maintain our new Subaru Forster in its immaculate state - Tassie is so small I'm bound to drive past the old owners, and I wouldn't want them to see a neglected vehicle!