Hondas, Toyotas & Mazdas... Oh My!

This morning, hubby and I head out at 9:30 am to hit the "Auto Mall" near our home. Our 2000 Mazda Protege has over 212000KM on it and we know it's time to start looking for it's replacement. Off we went, prepared to tackle the wonderful world of negotiating a deal with the car salesmen (and women).

Our first stop was Honda where I test drove a 2009 Honda Civic. I drive a 2003 Honda Civic so it was very familiar behind the wheel of this car. This model has a few more bells and whistles and we enjoyed the ride. About 90 minutes later, we leave and head next door to Mazda with our Honda pamphlets and idea of cost, trade-in, etc in our head (and on hubby's paper of figures).

At Mazda we try the Protege's replacement the Mazda 3. It feels smaller and I actually chuckle as I watch hubby try and squeeze out of the back seat. Okay. Maybe not the Mazda 3.

We actually wanted to look at the Mazda 6, the larger vehicle, because we've talked in the past about wanting to take that one step up so we have more space when we travel back and forth from Canada to the U.S. to visit family. I test drove the Mazda 6 and quite liked it. Huge trunk space (for all those times we try & help the U.S. economy with our purchases), and the inside was very spacious, yet it didn't feel too big. My only complaint with this car was for the size of side-view mirrors, there didn't seem to be as much actual MIRROR as the Honda. There was lots of fancy plastic AROUND the mirror, but the mirror itself seemed small in proportion. Again, we got some fancy figuring done by the salesman and while he went and talked with his manager, we head outside for a free hamburger/hotdog at the BBQ outside the dealership. Hubby and the salesman chatted more and then we head across the street to Toyota.

I might interject at this point that we have now previously owned all 3 in the past/present. I had a 1990 Toyota Corrolla when we got married which was replaced by the 2000 Protege. Then in 2003 we got my Civic. We are Japanese car owners - I always have been - and always will be most likely. Both Toyota and Honda are made right here in Ontario not more than 2 hours from us in either direction.


At Toyota we intended to test drive the Camry, but after a look inside, decided that it didn't have some of the features (like the 60/40 fold-down seats) that we wanted. Instead, we took a look at the Rav4 SUV and the saleswoman, Michelle, had me take one out for a spin. We really liked the roominess of the Rav4 and all the storage space. It was a great ride but a little more than the other two choices. Again, we sat and hubby did some fancy figuring before we left with our head swimming at the possibilities.

At each dealership as they tried to get us to sign on the dotted line hubby explained that we were on a fact-finding mission today and that we needed to take our research info home and pray about which vehicle God wants us to purchase. Not sure what they thought of that but that's the best we could do today. We're also not sure yet which of the 3 vehicles we will end up with but we do know that whichever we go with we'll enjoy for God-willing a good long time!

It was 3:30 by the time we walked back in the door. Our ladies' group banquet was starting at 5:30 and I had just enough time to check email, paint my toenails, and get ready. I was out the door by 5:20 with my pan of Crack Brownies

(you can read more about them and find the recipe HERE) and the recipe card that I was donating for the Silent Auction.

There were over 80 ladies at the banquet and it was a great evening. My friend, A did a sensational job of sharing what God's been doing in her life the past few years through some huge trials she's endured and the Silent Auction brought in a total of $1600 for the day camp our church runs in the summer for kids in the community who can't afford to go to camp. The Crack Brownies went for $50 and the recipe I think went for at least $25 (didn't see the final total on that). I bid on a basket full of bath goodies from La Senza and won.

It was a long day but a good day. Look forward to resting tomorrow!