This was a really charming story. I like all of the little details that you put into the story, both about the car and the quality of the weather on the drive. Both added to the sense of realism in the story and created vivid imagery so the reader could follow along with your experience.

One of the things that was a little unclear in this piece is why you needed to go all the way up to Auckland to get a car. Was the area you lived too remote to have a car dealership? Was there a better deal to be had in the city? Were there no other closer car dealerships to where you lived? 400 kilometers is a really long way to go for a car, and I think it would have been helpful to have some context for why the trip that far away was necessary. Especially since the car that ended up being purchased was a "project car" that needed work. The idea of traveling several hours a way just to get a car that needed a ton of work felt like a bit of a contraction.

Overall, this was a really touching story with a lot of great details that make the reader feel like they're really there with you. It was a great take on the prompt, and really highlighted the idea that someone was there looking over and protecting you!