Coyans in the Czech Republic

Finally - A Car!

My (Danny's) original plan was to rent a car for a few days after we arrived, and then purchase one within the first week. Well here we are over 50 days since we arrived and we have finally purchased a car. Why the long delay? Mainly because we arrived under the misguided notion that I could have easy access to the money in my american bank account, and thus we only brought about $2000 with us. Unfortunately, it turned out to be very difficult to access our money. For one thing, the Czech Republic does not use or accept personal checks of any kind. So not only was I unable to buy a car with a check (cash only - not even credit card), the banks here also do not recognize or use checks. I could withdraw about $400 US daily - but much of that was spent on things like rent for our temporary apartment, car rental, food, etc. We quickly set up an account with a CSOB, one of the leading Czech banks. But they said I would have to talk to my American bank regarding transferring funds. When I contacted my American bank, they said I would have to speak with our Czech bank. It got to the point where I actually considered flying back to the US for a day, just to withdraw cash. Eventually my US bank agreed to increase my daily ATM withdrawal limit and after several weeks I was able to accumulate enough money to purchase a car.

Initially I planned to buy a small 1 or 2 year-old very reliable car. I was considering a 2005-2006 Honda Civic but the cheapest one I could find was 530,000 czech crowns (about $26,000 US - for a used Civic). It turns out cars here are very expensive. I also considered the "national" brand Skoda, but a late model Octavia (similar in size to a VW Golf) was also beyond our budget. After much searching and listening to the recommendations of some czech friends (and a czech mechanic), we found a 5 year-old Audi diesel station wagon. It has about 130,000 kilometers (about 80,000 miles), but seems to be in good shape, and was a relative bargain too. Our mechanic friend says not to worry about the mileage, because diesels tend to last much longer than gas engines. Diesels also get very good fuel economy - which is nice since fuel here is a little over $6/gallon now. It's also big enough to fit the kids and haul around any visitors who might come to see us (hint hint). But it's nice to finally own a car - it is a real answer to prayer.

By the way - I won't mention the final bill for the 50-day car rental - I'm still getting over that myself. But it's a lesson learned for any potential missionary - take all the money you need before leaving the country.