As part of the Fathers Day weekend festivities, we went car shopping today.
Volkswagon Passat: It’s amazing, dismaying, and a bit annoying when a particular car model has versions that MSRP from $22K to $40K. It’s also annoying when all they want to show you are the W8 4Motion versions with leather seats, walnut paneling, and chrome-plated lunch dispensers. The salesman was annoying. Didn’t test drive.
Cooper Mini: Very comfy front seats. Back seats just about Katherine’s size. Very reasonably priced. Rather cheap plastic accessories in the interior, if you play with them. Signed up for a test drive next Friday afternoon. What the heck — we may reevaluate the “needs to be able to carry adults in the back seat for short distances” requirement.
Toyota RAV4: I’ve been curious about the mini-SUVs — better head room, better drivability in bad weather, moderate gas mileage. The RAV4 isn’t a bad vehicle, but it drove in a rough, lumbering fashion with not all that much sense of power or pep.
Toyota Matrix: A “cross-over” vehicle (woo-woo), noteworthy for a nice interior, flush-folding seats, and a 115v outlet in the front panel. All-Wheel Drive is only available in the top of the line, in both manual and automatic. Unfortunately, all they had was the base automatic to drive, which was seriously gutless. I was disappointed, but might see if I can find something a bit meatier to try.
Subaru Forester: I was surprised when I saw how big the Forester actually is. This outing, we sat down in one, and, well, it seemed okay, but there were enough other, more promising Subarus that we never got around to test-driving it.
Subaru Baja: As Margie said, “Is getting a pickup truck one of those Guy Things?” The Baja is a small sports pickup — it seats four comfortably, and the open bed (extendible with an additional package) can carry stuff. We took it for a test drive, and — well, it rode better than the RAV4, and seemed to have power enough. but it still felt … heavy. It wasn’t “sporty” — it was a heavy car with a bed. Certainly better than a kick in the head, but not quite what I was looking for.
Subaru Impreza WRX STi: Whoa, Mama. I’m in love. The priciest of the cars we drove, but, man, a hell of a lot of zip, pep, and turbo-charged smile-generation. The back seats were plenty comfy, the trunk is no smaller than the Saturn, and the mileage is quite reasonable. And with all the fine Subaru all-wheel-drive and the like, it seems like a fine all-weather vehicle. I’ll be honest in saying this vehicle has the lead so far.
Plenty of research left to do — and new research to do. Stay tuned.
Oh, and we bought a new area rug for the dining room (tip to sale going on at Carpet Exchange coming from Doyce). Yay, us.
Last time I had to buy a car, I walked out of the Toyota dealership, because the salesman kept saying, “Let me put you in a truck.” Apparently he had a medical condition which rendered it impossible for him to hear the words, “I don’t want a truck.”
You’d think they’d listen to the customer, and make suggestions based on what he was saying, wouldn’t you? Bah.
We have an Impreza (with a roof rack. We argued about the roof rack, but apparently it’s impossible to be a Coloradoan and not ski. At least according to our salesguy, who grudgingly removed the price for the roof rack.) It has definitely done its duty travelling to the Springs and back fairly constantly, plus it can (as necessary) hold two car seats and still have room for an adult in back, with a ton of camping gear. Mileage isn’t bad, and maintenance is better. [shrug]
Happy Father’s Day, Dave!
*cough* Honda Element *cough*
That is, I have to say, one of the hideous vehicles on the market. Not quite as bad as, perhaps, the Aztek, or the entire Cadillac line. But really, downright, bug-ugly. I mean, at the risk of exagerration, could you get more boxy?
Hah! Which is precisely why I love it. The experience of driving it is unique…it’s the only car I’ve ever been in that didn’t impose immediate claustrophobia. There’s no middle ground with it though, people either love it or hate it. So, naturally, we bought two. 😀
Over the past year the Cadillac the CTS and the XLR have grown on me. Even to the point that during the Cadillac add in the Matrix Reloaded I kind of went “Hmmm…The CTS is kinda cool looking”.
But the Aztek is still the Fugliest car on the road. Eever.
Dave…
If you are looking at the WRX Sti, you should also give a look at the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.. It is the Sti’s competition in the market.
Dave
The latest info from the Mini site…You can now buy a “Works” Mini. 200hp of Mini-licious good times!
The STi is choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.
However, if boy racer is not the image you want, get the Forester. XT.
That’s the turbo. Only 210 hp or so, not the 300 of the STi, but still good. And a turbo maintains the same hp at altitude that a non-turbo car does.
Hmmm. Interesting thought, Blaster. (And congrats on moving off of Blog*Spot.)
Stan, the Lancer Evolution doesn’t come with cruise control. Which, perhaps, some sports drivers aren’t interested in, but it’s a requirement for me.
Aside from that, the two vehicle are pretty close — the Evolution’s a scosh bigger (good and bad), and a bit more pricy.
The plain WRX is too peaky. The STi can’t be bought with the more practical sportwagon body, and I just can’t get past the adolescent-boy-racer bodystyling. That leaves the Forester turbo 2.5 XT, with *bags* of everyday low-end and midrange torque, functional (if a bit plebian) bodystyle, and a tad more ground clearance – all for thousands less than the STi. And the certainty that (because they share the same basic 4-cam variable-valve-timing engine) quite a bit of additional power lurks within the XT, waiting only for a few aftermarket bits to unlock it…
I’m taking delivery of my 5-speed XT tonight. I guess that spells out where my preference lies.