FINALLY!!!

Car Hunt 2006-2007 is over!

An indigo Impala found me. Yes, an Impala! Not a fuel-efficient Toyota or AWD Subaru. We were making our weekly cruise through the car lots one evening, and I saw the shape of the car and a little of the color. Standard comment ensued: "Hey, there's a nice-looking Impala... is that '68 Mustang still here?" i.e. I saw it, mentioned it, and (typically) would forget about it shortly thereafter.
Later that night, after he'd gotten on the computer, Hubby said, "You know that Impala?"
"Which one?"
"The dark blue one."
"Which one?"
"The one with the spoiler."
"Which-"
"At the place with the Mustang!!!"
"Oh. Yeah, what about it?"
Then he rattled off a bunch of available options and wondered if that particular one had heated seats (it doesn't) or XM radio (it does) and basically just rambled on a bit. We both like to look up specs and reviews and so forth. I know this had to be the fourth or fifth time one of us had checked out Impala specs, though. I listened, mostly, then proceeded to forget about it again.

Well, I was in town the next day and something compelled me to go back to that lot, even though it wasn't near where I had to be. That car popped into my mind and I thought I'd go take a look in the daylight. The owner of the lot gave me the keys, I drove it around the block, then called Hubby. "Hey honey, whatcha doin'?"
"Nothing... ummm, why?"
"I just bought a car. Can you come sign for it?"
"..."
"Honey? You still there?"
"Which car?"
"The Impala."
"Which one?"
"The dark blue one."
"Which-"
"I'll pick you up."

Ironically, I said I didn't want another Buick, but loved the way they rode... this one reminds me of everything I liked about the Buicks (and a few things I didn't!) It gets up to "too fast" on the odometer before I know it, and the dang thing is a behemoth compared to the little Corolla S we test-drove. I ended up with a big car in spite of my best intentions. And... that's okay. It gets halfway decent mileage and cost considerably less than we planned to spend, has all the bells and whistles I wanted and then some, and a bonus power sunroof. W00t!

When I remember to bring the camera upstairs, I'll post a picture. But you all know what a new(er) Impala looks like, right? Just watch the cars go by... one in ten will be an Impala. :-D