Current location:	Home PC
Current mood:	dirty
Current music:	Me typing, cars going by, birds outside
Entry tags:	car shopping

Update on Car Shopping

We went test driving yesterday.  We got to the Nissan dealership about an hour before closing (who closes at 3pm on a Saturday?!) and test drove the Rogue (crossover SUV) and Versa.  Then we hopped over to Honda and tried the CRV and Civic LX.  Finally we ended the day with the Toyota Rav4 Limited.  Honda was the only one who took a copy of my DL and Toyota had the guy ride with us (ugh!).  Interesting way they are handling test drives now.  Here's what my thoughts are on each.

First the Nissan Rogue.  It was a nice little vehicle. Initially I was worried about the trunk space.  It didn't look like alot when we looked at the outside. But when we could get in and go, we realized just how much room there is.  Here's what I wrote down: Easy to speed, trunk big, 17" tires (not great), intellikey, no purse space, glove compartment huge, power shifters (paddles on side of steering wheel) not great, replace stereo?  The drive was good, I didn't try to test the handling, but we only went around the block and back.  I'd be willing to try it again.  It's kind of expensive though, so by the time we will get one, it will be used and the price will be down.

The Nissan Versa is off my list now. We looked at it on the outside and it looked okay. Well, then we took it for a drive. The guy asked me if I wanted the sedan or wagon. I said Sedan. He said manual or automatic, I said Automatic.  He only had the "entry level 1.6" model that didn't even have a RADIO in it.  It was cramped though.  But here are my thoughts: Nice trunk, no console/arm rest, radio? very spacious back, front too cramped, 14" tires (good), no power anything.  But again, it was the entry-level one, so the next one up could have more features. Doesn't change the fact that it's cramped in the front.  So that one came off my list.

Honda CR-V.  We were "lucky" enough to get the oldest guy there who's been selling cars for 100 years.  We took a test drive in the regular CR-V (nothing special for what I could tell).  Here's what I wrote: 17" tires, nice trunk space, really long (bad), nice purse rest, handles well, plenty of space, not as easy to speed, might be too big.  If I could get the smaller model like Doug had, it might be better for me.  But how old will that model be by the time I can afford it?  So that's a tough one, coz I was looking forward to that car so I didn't write down a lot of negatives.  Overall the too-long body might be the turn-off for me.

Honda Civic LX.  This was interesting because the guy got the wrong key and ended up having to go get another one since the one he initially wanted us to drive might have had a bee's nest in the driver's side mirror.  But he gave us the key to the other one and we checked out the inside while we were waiting.  This is the car I've wanted, like, FOREVER. I've always wanted a Civic.  It might be the model I chose to test drive, but here's what I wrote down for this one: backseat leg space tight, no replacement stereo, nice console, digital mph :(, small front end :), emission exempt, roomy front.  The steering wheel moves, but I couldn't find a spot where it was 100% out of my line of vision of the spedometer guage. And the backseat space being cramped as a major turnoff.  So we'll just have to wait for that one, see what comes along.

Finally, the Toyota Rav4.  I asked to deal with the guy Daddy deals with, so he would know I wasn't there to buy one and he wouldn't try to sell me the car and he wouldn't BS me.  Unfortunately, he let us test drive the Limited (has all the toys) and Derek had a lot of fun playing with all the features.  There was the next model down next to that one, so we looked inside that one and it was good for me, so we just were basing this car on the drive itself because both would handle the same.  But here are my notes: replace radio?, aux jack in good place, 17" tires, high up (bad), too long.  Other than that, I couldn't write much down because G-- rode with us in the car while we were testing it.  But overall it wasn't too bad a car, had nice features.  They don't have anything smaller than the Rav4 and the size I want stopped with a 2004 model.  Blech.  So I dunno what will become of this one. Guess we'll wait and see.  Things can change a lot in 2ish years.
 
I also want to find a Kia dealership and try a Sorento and Soul.  And I'd like to find a VW dealership and see what they have to offer.  Again, anyone with any experience, or if you have a cousin that works for a dealership, if you've any info on these cars, please please PLEASE tell me! :)  I'm going to go get a shower now, time to "start" the day. Yeah I dunno what we're doing, but I hope we go out somplace, maybe walk the trail or something. We have to mow, I know that much.  Ciao.

~SAMI~