My first brand new vehicle and what it represents

What does buying a brand new vehicle mean? For some of you it means that you want a car that you can depend on. You have decided you want to get a vehicle that you can guarantee does not have any mechanical problems. You want a car that has not been hot-rodded by a previous owner. If it does have any problems, you want to know that there is a warranty that will fix any issues for the next 3 years/36,000 miles all the way up to 10 year/100,000 miles depending on the manufacturer. That assurance will help you sleep easier at night.

To many of you, it means that you are ready to take on the commitment of a substantial payment for the next 5-6 years. You feel that you will be able to make enough money to make a payment every month for the life of your loan. A car payment is generally the second biggest payment, after the house payment, for a person. In my case it would go house payment, child support and then car payment.

This is a pretty big commitment, and one that many people make second on their way to buying a house. It is kind of like the get a plant, get a fish, get a dog philosophy in AA/NA that some recommend should happen before beginning a relationship. First, buy a used car. If you can pay that off, then you can buy a new car. If you can support those payments for several years, then you are reliable enough to buy a house. That is the order that many people follow.

None of that fits me. For starters, I have tried to buy a house long before I ever bought a brand new car. I felt that brand new cars were to flashy for my business, so I always drove cars that did not stick out. I preferred white, blue or green vehicles that were a couple of years old. I felt that they would get me pulled over less. I never completed buying a house, but I was in the process of it when I got raided. I decided that after my house getting kicked in several times that I needed to move, and I just let the house go. No concept of responsibility.

To me, buying a new vehicle represents something. It represents the fact that my life has changed. I can commit to paying for something the next 6 years and guarantee that the payment will be made. It stands for the difference between my addiction and my recovery. In my addiction, there was not a single bank that would have given me or anyone that I was dating a loan without a cosigner. Even with a cosigner that loan was doubtful for even a used car, let alone a new car.

That SUV means that I have been responsible long enough to save money and in turn take that money and pay bills, a down payment, sales tax, title and registration fees. It means that I am in a great relationship that I have total faith is staying together. It means that instead of spending money on drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, court costs or attorneys I can now spend money on things that are of substance. I spend money on things that are positive and not unhealthy for me.

It means that I have a family that I actually care about and want with me. It means that I take into consideration their feelings. I went and picked the new SUV out with my wife and son. We got a vehicle that we all agreed upon. I did not go out and just buy the first one that I test drove. I instead drove multiple vehicles and looked for one that we all like and all could agree upon.

Finally, I have never bought a brand new vehicle because I never felt that I really deserved anything nice. I did not deserve something that had not been previously used by someone else. Today, I deserve to have things that are mine. I deserve to have nice things, because I can take care of them. Today, I deserve to be happy and have a happy family. That SUV in my garage represents that.

In closing, I want you to know that my new SUV represents me in recovery. We are both clean. We are both dependable. We both have features that will protect my family from harm. We both have features that are not standard in most other models. We both have been put through various tests to see how we handle under stress, pressure and the collisions that can happen in life and have been given excellent safety ratings. We have both been built from the ground up by various people and processes to become what we are now. Everything that we went through in the past was just a process to get us where we are today, which is right were we are supposed to be. We are beautiful, rugged and stronger because of the things that we went through to be here. Finally, we both have our best years in front of us.