It's quiet here in the house at 7:01am....Thanks to the 4 legged alarm clock I'm up but nobody else is, of course. That's ok, though. I'm doing some research on cars, mostly new but ready to do pre-owned certified if that's what it takes to get what I want. Deciding what I want is the research part. I know I want fun, sporty, economical and still have practicality. I want a few bells and whistles this time around... you know... the grown up car. Volkswagen is top of the list right now. They have awesome cars, they drive great but the pricing is going to limit me to either going with 0% financing on what I absosutely have to have or pre-owned of something I really want but not new. I'm looking at Jetta but I think I'd really like the Golf TDI or the GTI but having driven the TDI I have a feeling I'd a) get tickets and b) destroy any good gas mileage by driving it like I'm on a race track.
Mazda is next on the list to check out. They have fun cars, very economical on the Mazda 3 and the grill is a happy face. I know I have my cranky days but at least in my car I'd be sporting a smile every single day! My fun car: the Mazdaspeed 3... definitely going test drive that puppy!
I don't know what I'd choose for a third... maybe a Mini but they are definitely out of my price range. I'm still researching different brands but the problem lies in getting two things: 1) has to, absolutely has to have a manual transmission. I don't do automatic if I can help it. I said I wanted the car to fun, remember? 2) headrests. Yes... believe it or not they are a deal breaker. I am short (yeah... I know we all knew that) so I don't sit up high enough in the seat for my head to hit the headrest properly and I end up with the headrest pushing my head forward. That is due to the new headrests, I think they call them Active but it doesn't move, so whatever...regardless, they are slanted forward... all of them. :(
I've armed myself with the internet, Costco Auto Membership to see if that brings the price down any, three Consumer's Reports magazines (2010 models, 2011 models and the ratings and pricing guide), emails to/from different dealers in town and my research on the invoice cost, assumed holdback costs, sales incentives and the different models and trims I want to drive.
Another problem I'm running into is the colors that are offered on the newer cars... some are ugly. I can't drive an ugly car. I have driving a silver vanilla sedan for nearly 11 years... I WANT FUN. You know... zoom zoom zoom. I doubt the color is a deal breaker but it will definitely involve challenging the dealers to find me one I want.
Today Donald and I are headed out to see if we can do more test drives... we actually have NOTHING planned today. Nada. Zip. Zilch... except to pick Steven up from the airport tonight. So, we figure we can go out, get a little breakfast, stop by a couple of car lots and then come home and do some housecleaning and laundry and veg.
Sounds good to me.
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