First pass on the car hunt

So on Saturday, after rehearsal, we headed out to do some car hunting. BD was down for dinner, so he tagged along as an Extra Adult To Cram In The Back Seat.

It wasn’t a major expedition — we just wanted to do some initial sitting-in. So we headed up Broadway …

First off, Honda. We wanted to check out the Odyssey mini-van, but started off first sitting in their Pilot mongo SUV. Which was nice and comfy and fully of gadget and gew-gaws. As was the Odyssey, which gets 4-5 mpg more, and is just as confy and full of gimmickry. As it had when we were looking back in 2000, it had the spiffy fold-away seating in the back, which is very nice (but which, on the Odyssey, also drops the ground clearance substantially).

From there, we headed up the street to Burt Toyota (on Broadway in Englewood), probably the worst Toyota dealership I can imagine. How can I count the ways …?

1. There’s no single show room. There are, in fact, two show rooms, adjacent, croweded, possibly accessible between themselves, but not obviously so. The whole building needs to be torn down and rebuilt.
2. The sales force looked like where old car salesmen go to die. We had a couple of folks ask us if we needed help, but most of the responses we got when we asked questions were brusque and “why are you bothering me when I’m standing out here with a couple of my fellow salesman pals, smoking cigarettes?” I think if we said we wanted to actually drive a car off the lot today, we might have gotten more of a response (maybe). But short of waving around wads of cash, it was clear they didn’t feel we
   were worth the effort to impress, attract, or help. So … screw ’em.
3. A combo of the above two points: there were no Sienna mini-vans inside the show rooms. None. Granted, Toyota makes a ton of models, but you’d think … So I asked a sales guy, and he pointed outside. “Out there.” So we trailed outside, looking, figuring there was a sales model parked next to the building. Nada. Continued in the direction he pointed out into the lot. Nothing. So I went back and asked a gaggle of smoking sales guys — and was asked, flat out,
   if I was buying something today. “We’d just like to see what the new Siennas look like.” Unhappy had being interrupted in his puffing, the senior sales guy gestured out back. “There’s some back there. They’re unlocked.” Which, yes, was true, so you could see a new Sienna, if you didn’t mind wandering the back lot, crawling into a car that had been sitting in the sun all day, or that had plastic sheeting on its seats. Bleah.

Really … really … bad customer experience. I would drive many miles out of my way to avoid going to Burt Toyota.

That said, the newest Siennas (still ’06 model year) were nice enough. As Margie noted later, not a whole lot has fundamentally changed in six years, which is good and bad: good, as we like our current van; bad, as we (Margie, especially, since it’s more “her” car) would like to feel like we’re actually upgrading. The Odyssey, as was the cast in 2000, felt “fancier.”

Toyota has added the recessed seating, comparable to Honda. That, and the availability of a driver’s side powered door and powered rear hatch are the biggest changes.

Finally, since we were there (and had no cavils about blocking any of Burt Toyota’s parking at that point), we went next door to Burt Subaru, which was (despite the same owning company) night and day. Not a lot of help about, but what there was acted unobtrusively and, well, helpfully. We wanted to check out the Tribeca SUV, since that’s the biggest vehicle Subaru makes, and I’m very happy with mine.

It was a mixed result. Definitely smaller than a mini-van, and I’m not convinced that the third row of seats would fit any kids much bigger than Katherine (bearing in mind that we’re likely to have this vehicle until Katherine’s 13 years old — eep!). I found it a bit cramped, and the second row of seats had a hard bar across them that ran right into my shin. On the other hand, Margie found it comfy and stylish, and, as it will be “her” car, she gets a substantial say in the proceedings.
So … we’ll probably be back to test drive one, some weekend.

Nothing eliminated thus far. A couple of features that look to be big things right now:

1. I’m still holding out for All Wheel Drive. Subaru has it. The Sienna has it available on some models (and Toyota has experience in it). The Odyssey does not, and, to my mind, that’s one of the biggest downchecks on that vehicle.
2. MP3 Aux inputs. Wooooo … now, if only we had an iPod for Margie to load all her music into …
3. DVD players. These are becoming pretty standard on most of the mid-class models of the mini-vans and SUVs. Margie’s more pleased by that prospect than I am, but I can see occasional advantages.
4. Moon Roofs. Bleah. If nothing else, they usually take an extra inch off the ceiling height.
5. Video jacks. These are so you can play your Nintendo and have it display on the onboard DVD player. Woooo.
6. Heated seats. I think Margie would like those.
7. Heated rear view mirrors, and windshield wiper de-icers. Yeah, those would be handy.

Anyway, it was a fun preliminary excursion. Not feeling wildly excited about the car thing, yet. We’ll see.

UPDATE: BD on the car hunt (and dinner and Doctor Who).