We bought the car. It is a Honda Legend, 1985. It's brown. Or gray. Or something. It has a new engine that only has 30,000 miles on it, new shocks and struts, the nicest interior out of all of my friends' cars (or so they say), and power locks/windows. It has rust spots, leaks in the trunk when it rains, and we've all ready taken it back for a problem with the fuel filter. This baby cost us 4 grand, US.
We purchased the car from a Dominican Entrepeneur. He likes to fix cars up and sell them and he owns a store and like two other enterprises. He will do all the maintenance on the car for free (reasonable maintenance) if we promise to sell the car back to him when we leave. Seeing as maintenance is a huge issue for car owners here, and we're leaving the island and a bad time to resell to incoming students, this is a great deal for us.
$4,000 probably sounds like a lot for this car, but hey - we're on an island! Everything costs a lot here. I would say the average clunker costs double on the island than it would in the States. Junkers that we would have a yard haul off our property are patched and re-patched and sell for a minimum of $1,500. These are the ones with torn up interiors and no air-conditioning and only two working doors out of the standard four. There are a few really good deals occasionally around $3,000.
We've really enjoyed driving around for the few days we have had the car. Normally, the moment the sun sets, we stay at home. Now we can run to Tina's to do some grocery shopping, or to a restaurant, or a friend's house! These things all used to cost us a taxi ride, about $5 US round trip. But, of course, you have to factor in the unreliable wait for the taxi to pick you up and bring you back. That alone usually discourages us from even trying. It's also great to offer rides to our friends! After walking for the last year, I have no problem offering as many rides as I can.
The kids love getting to ride instead of walk to places, it makes trips to church, and the pool SO much easier.
Everybody keeps asking "Why didn't you just buy a car a year ago?" and tell you the truth, they're right. We would have had a much easier time here. All though the maintenance issues can be a major headache, I'd recommend buying a car to anyone with children too big for a stroller. Unless they are happy walking... mine are too spoiled... ;)
