Everyone,

Meet Mica, my new 2013 Mazda CX5

Since I just sent off my first payment and have mentioned her a few times in other posts, I figured some introductions were in order. We got her on June 16 and she's been a dream so far.

I was driving a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire that we bought off a guy for $3000

We decided we didn't want to put another set of tires on the Sunfire so we started looking around for a new car. Both Keegan and I are the type of people that run a car into the ground, so we wanted a car that we could eventually use for future kiddos down the road. I've driven small cars my entire (short) driving career, so I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable in a huge SUV. The CX5 is the perfect mix of car and SUV. It's low to the ground like a car, but has the extra room of an SUV. I'm not partial to any company, I've had a 2001 Ford Focus and my Pontiac Sunfire, but Keegan loves his '09 Mazda 3 so we decided to look at Mazda for our new car (the repeat buyer discount may have played a part in this.)

We test drove the new 3, the 6 (a bigger version of the 3,) the CX7 and the CX5. We felt like the 3 and 6 weren't quite big enough but the CX7 was too big. The CX5 was juuuust right (I felt like Goldilocks.)

I was a bit wary about the push-to-start, but so far it's only given me trouble once. It has the same gas mileage as Keegan's 3 (I get about 32 miles/gallon driving in town,) and it was super comfy to drive all the way to Missouri. The extra room is going to be great for hauling wedding stuff to and from Missouri in August.

We spent about 9 hours at the dealership test driving cars, haggling and doing paperwork. The dealership that we bought Mica from only had a white version (we wanted any color other than white,) so we had to wait until the Monday after for them to drive up a blue version from Jackson. Our salesman didn't know the trim package of the car they drove up to Jackson so we got a navigation system and sunroof for "free." It also has a really nice feature that allows any phone with bluetooth to be wirelessly transferred to the car so we can talk hands free (the tech guy that showed us all of Mica's gadgets was extremely surprised that my phone is old enough not to have bluetooth. Just another reason for me to get a phone for my birthday eh?)

We got a warranty that makes us come in every 3000 miles and unfortunately, we're already almost due. The drive to and from Missouri is about 1100 miles, plus driving to and from work every day for the last month. We're going to have to take her in right before the wedding and then probably right after the honeymoon. This just means that I we get to go to the mall and Starbucks more often!

She took some getting used to, but I think I'm in love. Hopefully she'll be able to last us for the next 20 years and few kids to come.

Disclaimer stuff: I was not paid by Mazda or any company for my thoughts. They are all my own. I just wanted to share my excitement for my new baby.