Her full name is Salvador Montserrate Mena Schumacher, but for practical purposes, we will call her Salvie.
After a long process of elimination, I chose her.
She was born in 2016, and has travelled quite a bit already (13,000 km). She is very forgiving, so it was an easy decision.
As the soon-to-be UVic alumna I am, and also an emerging adult with more than two jobs, I had to get her; I believed I needed her. I had worked hard for three years, and I thought I deserved her.
First, I considered her needs and my needs. I needed her to be pretty. I also needed her not to upset my bank account too much. I needed her to be reliable, and not too big, but also not too small.
She, on the other hand, would need energy, and someone who would have the time to take care of her. She would also need a few essentials, and insurance.
Although I love trucks, I do not need one at the moment. I also like SUVs, but I do not have the money for gas, insurance, and repairs that would accompany this unnecessary purchase. Moreover, although I realized I could only afford a used sedan, I could not afford a fancy one.
Salvie is a 3-year-old Hyundai Elantra, that I got as a graduation gift.
I got her at the BMW dealership, since someone had traded her as part of the payment for a car. I knew what my budget was, so I told the salesman that he could offer me a car within that budget OTR (On The Road price includes taxes and any extra fees). Other specifications were: she could not be too old (minimum from 2013), not driven too much (maximum 60,000 kms), and a clear history of car crashes.
The salesman delivered. He told me about Salvie, and explained she was new so she was not registered at the dealership yet. I would have to make a deposit to secure her, and come back in two days to pay the rest and bring her home.
Our ride home after picking Salvie up the following week was complicated, to say the least. She has standard transmission (manual) and I had not driven a car with a clutch in ages.
Fast forward to today, one month after getting her, and I have become one with the clutch and the gears. I realized I was letting go of the clutch too fast, so I was driving with “a kick”. Plus, although standard transmission is more energy efficient than automatic transmission, I was pressing to hard on the accelerator before letting go enough of the clutch, so I was not saving as much as I could on gas.
Long story short, I would 100% recommend students to get a brother or sister of Salvie, specially if it’s an identical twin.
See here to compare it to a Toyota Corolla and a Honda Civic.