In July 2024 we found out about a car that might be a good purchase for the boys. Our friend Lynette owes Airport Towing in Burien and her son told us they had a Ford Fusion that someone just signed over the title to them. The towing company has an auction every month to get rid of cars that haven't been pick up by there owners and they been sitting there for months. I didn't like the idea of having to bid on a car and not knowing it if was a good buy or not. Since the title of this car was signed over by the owner they didn't have to sell it at auction. On July 26th we stopped by as a family to check out the car to see if it was even something we wanted to pursue. It definitely had some issues, but nothing that seemed major. We talked with the boys and told them they would need to go in together on the cost of the car and then whatever money they spent on the car Michael and I would also spend that amount of money on the car to fix up any issues.
On July 31st after VBS was over at church, the boys and I went to the towing office, I test drove the car around the block and then I wrote a check for the car. One of the issues with the car was the motor for the driving side seat. Michael had been checking out all the switches and pushing all the buttons to see if things worked and the driver seat started moving forward and wouldn't stop and then it wouldn't move backwards at all. Michael had a really hard time getting out of the car that day. Anyways the seat was so far forward I was the only one that could actually drive it. It was definitely uncomfortable driving it home with my right leg basically in the flexed position the entire time.
Here are the things that have needed to be replaced since we bought the car...
Driver side seat motor
Passenger side window motor
Passenger side front seat (It was missing entirely)
Passenger side front seatbelt (Presumably was cut when the passenger seat was removed)
Front windshield (Got a crack in it after we bought it)
Battery
Tires
The other thing it needed was a good cleaning both inside and out. Michael worked with the boys on it while Ella and I were visiting Logan and they got it looking so nice. Michael also put in a request at Binford Metals for the passenger seat and seatbelt. He ended up finding a seat that was an exact match to the interior and both of them only ended up costing $75!
We did end up buying the boys a dashcam that records the front, rear and inside cab of the car. There are so many crazy drivers out there and I want to have a record if anything happens. We also bought the boys a cellphone holder so the phone will be in their view when following Google Maps. The boys each pay a portion of the insurance for this car....they are only paying half right now, but as they work more we are going to increase that so they'll be covering the full payment. They do share the car which hasn't been difficult...in all honesty Jackson drives the car way more than Owen. If Owen has a landscaping job he always takes the truck. He also just likes to drive the truck more since it's what he's driven the most. They do split the cost for gas when they have to fill up the tank. We have also told them if one of them ever decides they want to buy another car then the one that's going to keep this car...which will most definitely be Jack...would have to pay the other person out of their original investment. So one day in the future Jackson will be paying Owen some money and then Owen will go and buy himself another car or a small truck who knows.
Right now we have a Honda Odyssey, a Ford F-150, a Ford Fusion, a pop-up tent trailer and Michael's company car which is a Ford Explorer. We park the pop-up tent trailer down the easement, my van and Michael's work car park in the driver and the Truck and the Ford Fusion park on the street as you can see above. Ella is going to start driving school in 2025. I don't think we will need another vehicle though until she actually gets her license which won't be until 2026. Goodness gracious we are gonna have cars parking up and down the street.
