Driving Away

I've had two cars in my life and only one of those was really mine. It's ten years old and I still love it as much as the day I took it home, but I'm getting ready to say good bye.

Let's start at the beginning. My first car was a big white Oldsmobile the size of a small boat or island - just what a high school student wants. The thing is I did want it. That car was the first bit of freedom. Sure it was a bit large, and the electronic dash cut out at the most random times (I did get great at figuring out speed based on vibration), and it leaked antifreeze but I could go where I wanted (as long as my parents knew). I called her Samantha, Sammy for short. I name all my cars. I don't know why but it gives them personality. And Sammy was a no nonsense type of girl.

When I went to college, my sister got Sammy and I got nothing. My dad said Sammy just wasn't reliable for a two hour trip. After about the fifth time they picked me up they decided a car would be a better option. And so we went shopping. Of course my parents were paying but they at least pretended I had a say in what we got. We drove an Escort, an Echo, and finally my little Protege. We (my parents mainly) decided the Protege was the better deal but did say I could choose between a blue one or a green one. I picked green and named her Isabelle, Belle or Izzy for short (long before Twilight launched any similar names into popularity). Isabelle was a bit exotic sounding and a bit more flash.



Izzy - my always reliable Protege



Izzy and I have been through a lot. I was thinking that today as I drove to work. She's seen me through college, she's seen me through moving north, moving south, buying a house, getting married. If she'd been a friend I'd say we're BFF's. And now, I'm the one whose about to not return her phone calls. As exciting as the prospect of a new car is, it's a bit sad to say goodbye.

So, now I'm at the daunting task of picking a new car. It sounds like it would be fun but it's like walking into a lion pit and hoping to come out victorious. It's all about the game. And I don't really want to play. I want the car to be like buying a Michael Kors dress on 75% clearance at Macy's. I want the original price to be $25,000 with tons of options and the final price to be marked clear as day $17,500. Dream world? Yes. But so much easier than you give me a number before I tell you what I want to pay.

So far we spent much of Sunday driving around looking, test driving, talking, looking at cars. My lunch break today was spent scouting Mazda 3's up and down the east coast. I'm nothing if not loyal to Mazda (I've had pretty good luck with Izzy and the problems I have now are minor). And then my night so far, is no dinner, a quick walk for the dog and more research and adding back in a Jetta for consideration. I've wanted a Passat since I had one as a rental. It was nice. The best rental I can think of to-date (beats out the Mustang which was also a cool rental but horrible visibility and a gas guzzler). The Passat is just a bit big and out of my price range so the Jetta is like it's slightly smaller sister. I had kinda ruled them out - all day I was thinking it's a Mazda 3 but the Mazda dealers don't want to play the game or they're playing too well - offering a measly $1,000 off the sticker price and it's not even that loaded (now I sound like a snob).

The thing is if I'm paying a ton of money and planning to keep this car for a few years, I have to think about what's the biggest bang for my buck and let's just say Jetta's come pretty damn loaded. I'm not even that picky - I want a nice color (I don't like white and I'm not crazy about red or black), I want it to be safe and reliable (I don't need it to fold up in a slight fender bender or be in the shop every other month), and I want Sirius satellite radio. The rest - I don't care. Cloth or leather seats - a toss up. Tons of options - maybe but only if I'd use them (sunroof would be nice but not a deal breaker for me but K is pushing for it). So we'll see... what do you guys think? What car should I buy? Is there something I should consider but haven't?

On the what I've considered note - we've looked at Honda's (K wasn't impressed), Toyota's (they were ok but I wasn't excited about it - do people get excited about Camry's? They're nice cars but they're just a reliable Joe), we've talked about Nissan's (I've had hit or miss with their rentals), I ruled out pretty much all American cars because of the whole bail out nonsense (sorry but I want a dealer that's going to be around tomorrow and let's face it there just aren't that many cool American cars out there for the price and the Ford's I like (Taurus) are too expensive).