New(ish) car fever.

Hey y'all!  It's another week already.  Time is just flying too quickly!

As much as we hate it, we are going to have to buy a new(ish) car at some point this year.  We still love our current Pathfinder, but it has almost 200,000 miles on it. We aren't having any problems with my car, but are scared to tempt fate for too much longer.  Considering my car is the one that we all drive about 90% of the time, and with the amount of driving I do (mainly back and forth for work), I really need to have something extremely dependable.   We've been looking around at new(er) cars for a while, and just couldn't find something we loved, but could still afford. 

We REALLY want a new Pathfinder, but whoa buddy, those things are EXPENSIVE!  Even the base models are way out of our budget.  

Photo from HERE

We've also been looking at Muranos, but to get the options we want, they are still really pricy. 

Photo from HERE

 We then started looking at various Hondas, Chevrolets, and Fords, but really couldn't find something that fit with the options we want, we can afford, and will also let us get 200,000 miles on it and not have to have it in the shop all the time.  We've really been lucky with our current Pathfinder.  We have almost 200,000 miles on it and we've only had to replace the rear end (where the bearings wore out) and do routine maintenance (brake shoes, tires, oil changes, filters, etc....)  We MUST have the same reliability in our future car.

After hitting some car lots over the weekend, we think we have finally decided what we want to get:

Photo from HERE

A Toyota Venza.

Yes, it looks like a jacked-up station wagon on the outside, but the inside is DIVINE...

Photo from HERE

especially compared to the super-boxy, non-fancy styling I've had for the past 7 years with the Pathfinder.  It feels like a luxury car on the inside, but it still sits up off the road like a small SUV.  There is still tons of room, and has much more rear passenger room than we currently have with the Pathfinder.  It also gets better gas mileage, which is definitely a PLUS!

Jameson fell in LOVE with the one we tested and got really upset we came home without it! (Honestly, we were pretty sad to leave that one in the lot, too!)  The great thing is, we can get a LOADED (gently used) Venza  for much cheaper than a base model Pathfinder or Murano.  It's going to be a few more months before we actually bite the new-car bullet, but we think this one is a winner!

Do any of you have any pros/cons of the Venza?  We don't know anyone that has one, and honestly hadn't even heard of them until a couple of weeks ago, so this is new territory for us!  LOL

I hope your Monday is as fabulous as you are!