As you may have heard, we purchased a newer car to replace the Jaguar. With the cold weather and what not it has been difficult to take a picture of it. But tonight I was able to wash the car and take this wintry Candy Land picture of the car parked in our driveway.
Since purchasing the car on Saturday, we’ve put about 180 miles on the odometer! On Sunday, we drove it to church and then to a friend’s home in Conneaut. That’s the excitement of having a new car, I guess. My wife and the kids like the car which is an added blessing.
In case you don’t know, our new car is a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S430 RWD. It has a 4.3L V8 (275 hp) mated to a 5-speed automatic. And according to the paperwork, it should deliver slightly better gas mileage than the Jag — something like 22 mpg highway (link).
I must admit that a Mercedes-Benz was not on my list of desirable cars. I was actually hoping to find another XJ-S. Perhaps this was God’s way of providing what we needed as opposed to what I thought I wanted. And I can’t say I’m disappointed. The seats are comfortable with plenty of room in the front and rear. Speaking of the rear, there is a lot of rear leg room even behind my 6′ 2″ body.
The car is not without its faults. The mechanic has given me a list of things that will need to be addressed in the near future. However, none of them is outrageously expensive from what he told me. And many of the parts will be less expensive (from his perspective) than Jaguar parts. As with anything, we shall see. But that sounds good to me. For the moment, I am thanking God for his provision of a comfortable, clean, and warm vehicle for my daily driver.