The Basics: On Friday, September 8th, we got to drive our "new" car home to where we are currently living. It is a 1987 Volkswagen Jetta 5 speed turbodiesel which is in excellent condition. It gets very good mileage -- a big deal since diesel runs about $5.00 a gallon here (just barely cheaper than gas). We payed 2300 Euros for it (about $2900) plus about another $300 for all the paperwork and taxes to get it in Geta's name. We have enjoyed having it the last few weeks; it has already been a huge blessing to us, and a great help in getting us started in ministry. Our family is so thankful to each of you who have been praying that God would provide us a car.
The (Really) Long Version: Before we bought this car, we had been praying a lot that God would bring the right car to us, and that there would be clear direction as to which car was the one for us. We also felt very strongly that we should not make a decision to pursue any car until September 1st or later. So we had been praying, and looking for several weeks in newspapers and autotrader-type papers.
On August 27th, I went with a friend named Ionica (who's also a mechanic) to an automarket in Deva, a city about 2 hours away. People come from miles around to bring their cars to this outdoor swapmeet sort of market every Sunday. We even saw cars there from the area where we live! Out of all the cars we saw there, we liked a 1987 Volkswagen Jetta, and a 1984 Mercedes. They were both in fine shape, but we spent a lot more time talking to the man with the Mercedes, because overall it seemed to be a better car (although Ionica said the VW had a very good engine). Both cars had about the same price on them. We left the automarket with the phone numbers of both cars' owners, and I was fairly convinced that the Mercedes was probably the one for us. We would pray about it that week, and perhaps call the man with the Mercedes on the following weekend (after Sep.1, Friday) if we felt that was the car God had for us. We pretty much forgot about the VW Jetta -- but God did not!
On Wednesday, Geta's father called us (he works in Deva) and said he had been looking in the newspaper, and had found a Volkswagen that we should come see. I said okay, so the next morning (Thursday) I took a bus to meet him, and we went together to see this car that he had found in the paper. We went about 10 miles out in the country past Deva, through several villages until we came to the village of Fizes, and arrived at the house where the car was supposed to be. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the courtyard of this house, only to see a car that looked familiar for some reason. When the owner appeared, and I recognized him and realized in that instant that the Volkswagen Jetta I saw there before me was the very same one Ionica and I had looked at just days earlier at the automarket. I was really taken aback at the seeming "coincidence". I knew this was definitely not a coincidence, but that it could just be the "clear direction" we had prayed for. We looked the car over very well, I took some pictures to show Geta, and I told the owner we would call him On September 1st (the next day) or later if we decided to pursue it. After I finally got home that evening (via Geta's dad and then hitchhiking -- safe in Romania) Geta and I talked about it, I showed her the pictures, and we prayed about it. We felt that we should pursue the Jetta, and so we called the owner the next day (September 1st) and told him we were interested in pursuing the car.
We spent the next week (Monday-Friday) running back and forth to Deva and going through the entire process of buying the car (not a simple process here), getting the technical inspection done, and so on until at last, on Friday evening about 8pm we arrived back at out temporary home in Otelu-Rosu. That was the first set of hoops to jump through, in the county of Hunedoara. Then we spent another couple of days running around the county where we were registering the car (Caras-Severin) in order to get all the correct taxes paid, and the new plates for the car. Let me just say, I am not looking forward to buying another car here in Romania. But, thankfully, everything was done legally and in order, and the car is in Geta's name, so if we ever have to sell it and get something with more seats (more kids? You never know!), it won't be too big of a problem.
One question I know is probably on a lot of peple's minds is: why in the world would you pay over $3000 for a 20 year old car? Yes, I admit I asked myself the same question. If I were in America, I would have to be insane (maybe even committed) to pay that much for a 20 year old VW Jetta. But we're not in America. The market is very different here in Romania, and this type of car is very popular and highly sought after. This is because it is diesel, and because it gets very good mileage (about 1.25 gallons for 100km or 60 miles), so it is comparatively inexpensive to operate. It is also because Volkswagen is a very reliable car, and the parts are not expensive. The car should hold it's value pretty well. (The other Volkswagens in this era, Golf II and Passat, are generally going for anywhere from 2500 Euros to over 3800 Euros!) We got a pretty good deal on this one because we had to do some extra papers on the motor (it is newer than the car) and because we will probably have to paint it at some point in the next couple of years. After we brought the car home, I went to a junkyard in Lugoj (1 1/2 hrs away) and got seatbelts for the back seat so we can buckle the kid's car seats in!
The car has run beautifully for us; it has already been a huge blessing for us, and a great help in getting us started in ministry. Again, our family is so thankful to each of you who prayed with us that God would provide us a good car at a good price; you are a blessing -- thank you!
UPDATE: January 09, 2006 -- The car continues to run beautifully for us, and has been such a blessing in ministry for us. We have changed the rear shocks and coils, and the water pump since we got it, but that is it. We are so thankful for this car. Praise God!
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