Like a Bear

That is how Mark has been lately.  Like a bear.  He is antsy and anxious and wants to have some freedom to get out of Dodge.  So, today we went and looked at a new car.  We have been bouncing around the idea of purchasing a car for about a month now.  We began to feel some pressure once we started looking at properties.  Riding in the back of squishy cars or in the bed of a pick-up is getting old.  The question was whether we should just get a beater right now that would be Mark's car eventually after we purchased the family car later on or should we invest in the family car now, and if so should it be used or new?  Cars are super expensive in Ecuador since they are imported.  This is a big decision.

We started looking at used beater cars, in particular the Lada Niva.  It is a Russian car and supposed to be built like a tank.  They are all over the city, so clearly they are liked by Ecuadorians.  We found one for $5,000.  It had over 200,000 kilometers on it.  Yikes!  The guys popped the hood so Mark could inspect the engine, but then couldn't get it down.  And it smelled like a smoker's car.  Yuck. Anything in our beater price range is extremely old with thousands of km on it, and they are hard to find.  It has been a pretty depressing search. 

For our family car we want to get an extended cab pick-up for the farm.  It has to be utilitarian, but also comfortable for long rides.  F150's and the like are upwards of $40,000 plus they are big and hard to manuever in the city.  We considered and are still considering a used pick-up, but today we headed out to the Mahindra dealership to look at their trucks.  We looked at a 4 wheel drive turbo diesel.  We took it for a test drive and I was impressed with its pick up and the back seat, which was very comfortable and could easily seat three or four smaller peeps.  It climbed a very steep and muddy hill like a champ.  So, we will compare with some used Chevys and then make a decision.  It will be so nice to just get out of town when we want to and go and explore when the mood hits us.