Announcing: The new hybrid car

On Friday, June 10th, the insurance agent representing the driver who hit us called to say my car was totaled and they will be sending a check for replacement value. It was a good offer for the car. In the meantime, I had done some research on what kind of car I wanted to buy. I had a few required necessities: cruise, power windows and locks, high mpg around town and on the road, and something that I could load things in the back for hauling. I found several cars were ranked very high in various categories and I gave Steve a list of four cars that met my lists.

Steve called me to the computer a few minutes later and showed me a 2010 Honda Insight hybrid, with 6800 miles on it, on Ebay, listed at $21,900. The dealership was in Hermosa Beach, CA. I told him to bid $18,500 before the bidding ended in two hours. He immediately got a counter offer of $19,200. I told him to bid $19,000 and tell the sob story of our accident. The guy accepted our bid. So Sunday afternoon after church, we loaded the rental car with our overnight bags and such and headed toward LA, CA.

Little did we know how really bad the traffic is between Las Vegas and Los Angeles! We literally crept for 45 minutes going five miles just before Primm, and again crept along before Barstow. The agricultural point check, a total joke, slowed the traffic to a crawl for over 30 minutes. I was driving while Steve slept, so it really bugged me to not have ANY reason for all the slow downs. We arrived at our friends, Maureen and Bob Baird's home in Anaheim Hills by 8:30 p.m. and visited until 10 p.m. We had a great night's sleep and a wonderful breakfast before heading the 56 miles to Hermosa Beach to pick up the car. And here is the proof:

We are in the tiny lot of Casey's Cars, Inc on the Pacific Coast Hwy in Hermosa Beach, CA. We signed the papers and after a long conversation with the car insurance coverage people, Steve drove the new car while I followed in the rental. Again, we crept through slow traffic for about 30 minutes on Hwy 91 heading east toward Arizona. This time there was a reason for the slow down. A car was upside down on it's engine in the middle of three lanes. There were emergency crews all over! It was a little too unnerving to me! As a result of the accident last Tuesday, I am a nervous driver and passenger right now!




Another view. This sporty little car is a jewel! Steve drove it all the way home, even after we dropped the rental car off in Wickenburg, AZ at 4:45 p.m. and headed toward home. He said he hasn't had that much fun driving a car ever! The hybrid features are amazing.


He took a picture of the read out that shows we were getting over 69 mpg on the stretch from Kingman to the Hoover Dam.







This photo shows us getting 45.7 miles to the gallon. The tank is a small nine gallon, but we still had half of a tank when we got home. We are going to love this.






Taken through the locked gate of the impound lot in Wickenburg, AZ, this is the old model Buick that hit us. If you look closely enough, you can see the bubble where the passenger hit the windshield. Our car was not there. It had been hauled away by the insurance company to sell for scrap. I do not have an update on the driver or her passenger to report at this time.






Thanks for all the prayer and loving thoughts as we have gone through this ordeal. Steve is feeling much better other than sore and tenderness in his tailbone area. I guess you could say he is a real pain in the butt! He is a real trooper and I can't tell you how blessed we are.