Old One, the same thing happened to me today, only on my virtual doorstep. Someone (a friend of a friend, who must have heard from that friend about my car trouble) sent me $50 and said "Merry Christmas!" That was so, so sweet.
I'm happy because I think I have a car. I won't believe it till I drive off the lot with it. My brother was amazing. I really didn't even care about the car (a Honda CRV)--it was just one of several I was looking at--but it handled much like the Jeep I'd been driving, and had a lot of the same features--not that those features were necessary, but it was nice to see. But I was perfectly happy to look for an older Escort or something like that. It was actually way on the high end of what I was wanting to pay.
Decided to come back at night with my brother so he could check it out mechanically and we could look at other cars they had. One had electrical problems. The other had a leaky transmission. Not impressive.
I did like the CRV, but wasn't passionate about it, but they were really pushy, and I had called the credit union to see what they'd approve on a loan, and they told me a number that was $2000 less than the dealer's asking price. Actually, almost $3000 less.
You know I just started looking, so even though I liked the car, I could walk away at any time without regret, which between that and having my brother with me, who stayed firm the whole time, was able to negotiate (after THREE HOURS of back-and-forth) the exact loan price, which we had said we'd walk out if we didn't get.
So, unless something happens between now and end of day tomorrow, I will have a car, and I will be able to drive to my friend's house for Christmas, with a warm heart for all the blessings that have come this week.
