Buying a car can be a fun – and stressful – activity for a couple. On the one hand you have the excitement of a new automobile. On the other you have the expense of a new automobile. Any time you mix excitement with expense you have the formula for a nasty argument.

But that is not my only concern with buying an automobile. I thought after my wife and I bought a minivan that we could navigate anything. But watching a commercial the other day I noticed something. New cars today can:

• Present you with a map of your destination
• Tell you if you make a wrong turn
• Keep telling you about your wrong turn until you correct your mistake
• Alert you if you are falling asleep
• Alert you if there is a car in the lane you’re about to merge into
• Slow you down if you get too close to something ahead of you
• Remind you that you are still going the wrong way

I’m guessing that some of you can already see why this is a problem. If my car can do all of this, what is my wife going to do? Take away these tasks and we might have to… talk, or something.

But seriously: Life is filled with stressful events such as buying an automobile (or dealing with a bad driver.) The real question is how do we handle those times? Does pressure make your relationship stronger? Or does it tear it apart? You can’t always choose the pressure situations, but you can choose how it affects your relationship.

Do you have any funny stories about buying a car? Or a backseat driving spouse? What do you do to help your relationship through stressful times?

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