We Have a Sausage
After the mess at Toyota last weekend, I've actually enjoyed most of my car shopping experiences here in Dayton. The Saturn guy was very knowledgeable, very polite, and didn't push me about a sale or ask if I was trading in a car, the usual B.S. I drove a Saturn Vue and liked it a lot better than I thought I would -- lots of neat amenities and great power for a V6 -- and the 20/28 gas mileage is about what I get on my Thunderbird (and it costs about $15k less than a Highlander Hybrid). But the console that we would be staring at all day looked like it belonged in a K-Mart furniture aisle. Very cheap, half plastic, half faux wood. And, though better than the Highlander, I still felt a little cramped in the front seat. I'm sure that has everything to do with the roads getting narrower and not me getting wider.
The next day, after my dorsal drilling, I drove a Ford Escape Hybrid, something my wife and I had tried out back in Virginia like a year ago just for grins. I barely remembered anything about that first test drive, other than I thought I liked the car. And I still did. Much more comfortable in the front seat -- I can actually move my knees side to side under the steering wheel, and I can lean against the window comfortably, unlike the Vue, which was at a funny upwards angle. Plus, the (possible) city mileage of 36 mpg is nothing to sneeze towards a muppet at. I also liked this salesman immensely, Earl Guy, who knew what he knew, and wasn't afraid to say when he didn't. Also not pushy. LOVE that. When I'm shopping, I'm shopping. When I'm buying, I'll let you know.
Since I was out, I decided to find more dealerships, and remembered passing a string of them on the other side of town. I couldn't get anyone at the Honda dealership to notice me, but the Pilots were too big and gas-guzzling, and the CRVs got worse mileage than my T-bird or the Vue, for not a great price. Went up the road to Toyota.
A tall, gruff gentleman named "Garland Oates" greeted me, and when I told him I was after a mid-size to compact SUV that gets great mileage, he said, in a slow drawl, "Well, that'd be the RAV-4." Only he said "foooooouurrrr..."
"Great."
"And we don't have any."
I pivoted on my heels, but he said we could sit down and talk about it anyway. Turns out to be an ex-AF officer from the sixties (I had an AF shirt on) who was an engineer at AFIT up until the year I was born. Did other things, retired for a while, and has been selling cars for a year. Said he wasn't surprised I wasn't comfortable in the Highlander, but that I would fit in the RAV-4, especially with the new, bigger, '06 model. We chatted about Big Ten basketball, and he gave me a brochure, and I stepped away to use the restroom. On the way out, he had me meet his punk-ass manager who had to have been all of 25 years old, which must drive Garland up the wall. The manager said, in that managerial way, "So, I understand you're looking at a RAV-4."
"No," I said, "you don't have any."
He rolled his eyes and tried to explain what he meant, while Garland let out a deep guffaw. The customer always gets to be a smartass. Rule 1. "He said that so deadpan..." said Garland to no one in particular. They said they'd call me if and when some RAVs came in to test drive.
The Mazda dealership next door was already closed, but I went ahead and got out to look since I was there -- the Tribute is the same as the Escape, though I couldn't find a Hybrid. A salesman came out and talked to me and said it wouldn't be out for another six months, "maybe." He asked if I'd tried an Escape, and said there was virtually no difference.
The next morning I tried another virtually no different Mercury Mariner Hybrid, which had a nicer console and leather interior but rode rougher, gets worse mileage, and is $3-5K more than the Escape. So our thinking is, get an Escape, spend the extra money on "nicing" it up, and still have the better 36/31 gas mileage. I got better than advertised out of my T-bird; I'm curious how I'll do in a Hybrid. Yes, hybrids aren't worth the cost (unless gas goes up to $5/gallon, c'mon Iran, do somethin' stupid!), but we'll get a nice tax credit, and in Virginia (for the time being), Hybrids can drive on the HOV lanes with only a driver, so any time one of us needs to get up into town in the mornings, we'd have that traffic-avoiding advantage.
So, those of you predisposed to providing oral drumrolls, now would be the time:
Yes, we think this our vehicle of the future. Not sure when that future is, but unless something crazy happens, probably before I graduate in June.
Great. I have Metallica's "Battery" going through my head now.
The next day, after my dorsal drilling, I drove a Ford Escape Hybrid, something my wife and I had tried out back in Virginia like a year ago just for grins. I barely remembered anything about that first test drive, other than I thought I liked the car. And I still did. Much more comfortable in the front seat -- I can actually move my knees side to side under the steering wheel, and I can lean against the window comfortably, unlike the Vue, which was at a funny upwards angle. Plus, the (possible) city mileage of 36 mpg is nothing to sneeze towards a muppet at. I also liked this salesman immensely, Earl Guy, who knew what he knew, and wasn't afraid to say when he didn't. Also not pushy. LOVE that. When I'm shopping, I'm shopping. When I'm buying, I'll let you know.
Since I was out, I decided to find more dealerships, and remembered passing a string of them on the other side of town. I couldn't get anyone at the Honda dealership to notice me, but the Pilots were too big and gas-guzzling, and the CRVs got worse mileage than my T-bird or the Vue, for not a great price. Went up the road to Toyota.
A tall, gruff gentleman named "Garland Oates" greeted me, and when I told him I was after a mid-size to compact SUV that gets great mileage, he said, in a slow drawl, "Well, that'd be the RAV-4." Only he said "foooooouurrrr..."
"Great."
"And we don't have any."
I pivoted on my heels, but he said we could sit down and talk about it anyway. Turns out to be an ex-AF officer from the sixties (I had an AF shirt on) who was an engineer at AFIT up until the year I was born. Did other things, retired for a while, and has been selling cars for a year. Said he wasn't surprised I wasn't comfortable in the Highlander, but that I would fit in the RAV-4, especially with the new, bigger, '06 model. We chatted about Big Ten basketball, and he gave me a brochure, and I stepped away to use the restroom. On the way out, he had me meet his punk-ass manager who had to have been all of 25 years old, which must drive Garland up the wall. The manager said, in that managerial way, "So, I understand you're looking at a RAV-4."
"No," I said, "you don't have any."
He rolled his eyes and tried to explain what he meant, while Garland let out a deep guffaw. The customer always gets to be a smartass. Rule 1. "He said that so deadpan..." said Garland to no one in particular. They said they'd call me if and when some RAVs came in to test drive.
The Mazda dealership next door was already closed, but I went ahead and got out to look since I was there -- the Tribute is the same as the Escape, though I couldn't find a Hybrid. A salesman came out and talked to me and said it wouldn't be out for another six months, "maybe." He asked if I'd tried an Escape, and said there was virtually no difference.
The next morning I tried another virtually no different Mercury Mariner Hybrid, which had a nicer console and leather interior but rode rougher, gets worse mileage, and is $3-5K more than the Escape. So our thinking is, get an Escape, spend the extra money on "nicing" it up, and still have the better 36/31 gas mileage. I got better than advertised out of my T-bird; I'm curious how I'll do in a Hybrid. Yes, hybrids aren't worth the cost (unless gas goes up to $5/gallon, c'mon Iran, do somethin' stupid!), but we'll get a nice tax credit, and in Virginia (for the time being), Hybrids can drive on the HOV lanes with only a driver, so any time one of us needs to get up into town in the mornings, we'd have that traffic-avoiding advantage.
So, those of you predisposed to providing oral drumrolls, now would be the time:
Yes, we think this our vehicle of the future. Not sure when that future is, but unless something crazy happens, probably before I graduate in June.
Great. I have Metallica's "Battery" going through my head now.
posted by Dan at 6:26 PM
2 Comments:
Yes, that makes perfect sense.
Couldn't find a picture of that one.
Perhaps my wife will sprawl out on the hood of the car for my digital camera all "Nuns & Ammo" like.
Heard those wouldn't be available until next year.
I'm overnight testing the Escape tonight to make sure the dashboard lights aren't all pink or something.
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