Our New Baby

Well we don't really have a new baby, but our new-to-us Toyota Sequoia is here!

And Melissa loves it. And I love it too, especially because we paid 1/4 of what it would cost new.

Over seven months ago Melissa and I began to discuss replacing our vehicle as we needed to replace our Honda Odyssey (227,000 miles and a slipping transmission).

We looked at Honda Pilots, Toyota Highlanders, GMC Yukons, and a few other larger  SUVs.

We checked Edmonds, Consumer Reports and we talked with several friends and relatives to discover what would be best for our family.

We realized certain SUV's weren't very roomy or lacked a comfortable third row. And we learned what years were poor for each brand.

We discovered core values for Melissa (roominess, heated seats) and core values for Ryan (fast, 4x4, sun-roof). 

Then when we bought it, we rejoiced in having made a united, allied decision.

Key Principles:

1. Take your time even when a problem seems urgent (slipping transmission anyone?)
2. Unitedly discuss decisions
3. Explore alternatives with a reckless abandon
4. Scientifically scrutinize your preliminary findings

 

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia-our Sequoia is a little older, but similar color and design)