Prins Gets a Car

Not many dogs get a brand new car for their first birthday, but Prins has always been an exceptional boy with a delightfully sunny disposition. Good things happen for him!

In all seriousness, no I am not actually buying a new car specifically for Prins for his first birthday, which is Sunday November 21. I had a scheduled maintenance visit at Toyota of Muscatine today for my 2016 4Runner, which just needed a tire rotation. Andy and I talked in summer about whether we would scale up, to trade in my 4Runner for a Sequoia to pull a decent sized camper. After more dog shows, looking at what people actually used (and liked), and talking with a few people that have traveled for years to shows, it was apparent that we need to invest in a Class C motor vehicle. I hated driving a pickup truck as my regular vehicle, which was necessary when we had Gypsy Vanner horses and needed a vehicle that could pull our Sundowner horse trailer. My Tundra had a 10,000 pounds towing capacity, at the cost of 13 miles per gallon when not pulling. When actually pulling anything, I got less than 10 miles per gallon. In 2018, we sold our horse trailer. In January 2019 I traded in my Tundra and bought a gently used 4Runner LTD with 30,000 miles. I test drove a RAV 4 at the time but was actively volunteering at Iowa Parrot Rescue and picked the 4Runner because it had better off road capabilities, and the shelter was in the middle of nowhere, miles from a maintained paved road.

The 4Runner was a great vehicle, with a towing capacity of 4,500 pounds, so I have used it to tow our large pontoon boat, as well as smaller things. After walking through smaller sized campers a few months ago, I knew that anything the 4Runner could pull would be too small to travel in comfortably with half a dozen dogs and one other person who manages to always occupy the exact location I need to go through. It was wonderful to have my 4Runner for dog shows this past summer, and I easily fit four Vallhund sized crates in the area behind the driver seats. I put my luggage in the front seat, and various accessories throughout the vehicle. I removed the middle row of seats in May and stored them in the house. The third row of seats have always been stored and unused. I have no complaints about the 4Runner and redid all of my decals a month ago, as some were showing signs of sun damage and didn't look good. We have put off going to look at Class C vehicles as I don't even know what shows I will travel to in 2022, since we're planning at least one litter of puppies. There are two four day cluster shows and multiple two day shows within two hours of my house, so it's likely I won't even attend any shows that require overnight stays. Prins will be my only dog to show towards an AKC championship, and he already has a 3 point major. I just don't feel any rush to prove anything to anyone anymore, including myself. In 2022, I want to spend more time on our pontoon boat on islands in the Mississippi River than driving to dog shows. I want to watch the dogs play on the islands and be the social butterflies that they so enjoy being. I want to sit outside in the shade on a picnic bench at one our favorite breweries, sloppily eating barbecued foods or authentic tacos or pizza hot from a nearby brick oven. I want to slip small pieces to Prins and Celine and Dove and tell Andy that he better dare not feed them any table foods. I'm looking forward to all the people that will ask me about my corgis or mixed breeds or miniature German Shepherds. I will smile and enthusiastically say, "Actually the are Swedish Vallhunds! Google "National Dog of Sweden" later on, because no one ever remembers how to spell Vallhund." I plan to have business cards made with a link to the SVCA and my own Lycklig Farm website but who knows when I will actually get that done.

Well, shortly after I dropped off my 4Runner for its scheduled service, I sat in the waiting area and decided to look to see what was available at the dealership. There were only two cars in the showroom, which in previous years was packed with a dozen or more. There was on RAV 4 and one Sienna minivan, both already sold. There were a few used vehicles a new Highlanders outside on the lot. It was really an odd scene. I walked back to Chad's office, the service manager that I've known now for the better part of a decade. I asked him if he could run the numbers on what I could get for trade in for my 4Runner, as I was interested in scaling down to a RAV 4. I said there was no rush and it didn't happen today, as I knew they were closing in an hour.

Chad went to talk to Frank, a bright eyed young sales person with a beard like Andy's. Frank looked up the dealer numbers for a base trade and came over to me to talk. He said that my vehicle was currently up in the air in the service department, but based on mileage and good condition it would be in the 33-34,000 range. I told him it was a third row seat and I was thinking about 35,000 traded in towards something brand new. He agreed that we would be within a few hundred dollars up or down of that and asked if there was anything I specifically wanted. I showed Frank screenshots of the RAV 4's they had listed on their website, and he told me they were all sold. He had me walk over to his office cube and pulled up incoming inventory on his computer. Every vehicle in transit was already sold, but they had two RAV 4's scheduled to start production in the next week, with delivery date 4-6 weeks afterwards. One vehicle was a RAV 4 XLE Premium Hybrid, Blueprint color exterior and black and red leather interior. I texted Andy that I could get a brand new RAV 4 for about $2,500, with a trade in of a minimum of $500 OVER what we paid for my 4Runner 40,000 miles ago. He said to go for it. So, I told Frank, "Let's do it," and they reserved that RAV 4 for me.

Our new car will begin production on Sunday November 21, the day that Prins turns one year old! Frank took a copy of my license for the sales agreement and gave it to the finance department person. Andy and I have excellent credit ratings and it's a tiny amount between the cost of the two vehicles, so I wasn't at all worried about financing. Frank the salesperson was very excited and asked me several times if he remembered to give me his business card. I told him that I had the card, and the printout of the exact vehicle I am getting, and that I wouldn't forget his name because I have a cat named Frank. Frank the Person paused and asked, "Is he a good cat?" I said, "Oh he's awesome, by far the best cat we have ever had! My husband adores Frank and spends hours every day playing with him." I showed Chad and Frank the Person my Lycklig Farm website and pictures of our Swedish Vallhund dogs. Chad always asks about our pond and whether Andy has been able to do much fishing. It's nice to patronize a business that employs people who remember those details. Frank said he had a long list of people that want a 4Runner and that mine would be sold immediately. I asked him if it was okay for me to drive it home or if they wanted to give me a loaner. He said that it was no problem for me to take it home and keep driving it, "But please don't get in a wreck." Frank double checked that I have a garage to store my hybrid vehicle for charging. I told him we have a huge shop that I call the barn but it was actually built for working on cars by the original owner. I'm super excited about getting 40 miles per gallon, even when it's not running off the electric! All the electric components come with a 150,000 mile warranty, and I will purchase a bumper to bumper warranty for the rest of the components. My only small worry is that my Dakota dog kennels might be a bit too wide to both fit in the back area. Frank showed me all the features of the RAV 4 in the showroom, and I THINK the Dakotas will fit, but if they don't fit side by side then that would not have been a deal breaker for me anyway. The back seats in the RAV 4 fold flat so I can always keep one kennel on top of the folded seats.

So, now I need to start planning an entirely new curation of decals for our new RAV 4! I'm going from a white vehicle to dark blue, so totally different colors. I will definitely order a light colored "Vallhooligans On Board" decal and will have a lot of fun planning the curation of my new vehicle over the next few weeks.