Thursday, September 27, 2007

I am not much a car shopper...

In fact, I hate the process.

For various reasons (mainly: to pay off a portion of my debt and to get a more fuel efficient ride), I have decided to sell my Xterra and purchase a new car.

I know what you are thinking. "How can you sell the car you love so much?"
Well, luckily...it won't go too far. :) My parents will be buying it from me...my mom loves it as much as I do. So, its all good.

Anyways, after deciding that I am going to do this...I embarked on the arduous and frustratingly complicated journey of car buying. I am so tired of looking at specs and I have only been doing this less than a week. They don't make it even remotely easy to buy a car, do they?

So...in an effort to pare down the choices, I put it to you, good people of the blogosphere, to help me in my quest. Please...please...please post your thoughts, views, opinions, etc. I will use them in my decision making process. (whether good or bad)

In no particular order:

Car #1 - The Mazda 3 (5 door) Things I like about this car: interior is cool, looks cool, has some audio stuff I dig (Ipod connections), gas mileage is OK, has good ratings online


Car #2 - Toyota Matrix - things I like about this one, the back seats fold down completely flat and have a plastic/rubber floor to store stuff, interior is nice, good gas mileage, toyotas last forever


Car #3 - Jeep Compass : don't really have any specific feelings on this one. Haven't seen one up close...just seen info online. what a whippin.

Car #4 - VW Rabbit : cute, has some cool features, decent price. but...apparently maintenance issues are a big deal with VW's. Still worth a look.

Car #5 - Dodge Caliber : Now Mike says this one is ugly, but its a good price, has some neat features and I had a Dodge once and liked it. Again, worth a look.

Car #6 - Scion xB : When the Scions first came out, my initial reaction was "WTF". I hated all of it. Since their first few models have come out, tho...they have moved on to sleeker lines and more friendly shapes. Priced decent, you can modify them as you like and all of them come standard with an Ipod dock thingie. Not lots of room, but its interesting.

Car #7 - Pontiac Vibe : very much like the Toyota Matrix, just a bit cheaper.

Car #8 - Ok, so this might be bordering on "drinking the koolaid", Honda discipleship, jumping on the bandwagon and any number of other things I try to avoid. HOWEVER>..having said that. I must admit, looking at the Honda Element (despite my initial yak factor when they were introduced) has peaked my interest. Mike has one, which I actually think is really fuggin cool. His dad has one. Elements are like the Borg and people are being assimilated one by one. Price is higher than I was aiming for, but it might suit my purposes well. Sigh.

Wish me luck. I hate car shopping. It is supposed to be fun, but in reality, its a soul sucking process. The ONLY time I felt like I didn't get short shafted is when I bought my Xterra. It was worth every damn penny. Sigh. I love that thing. (scratches head...to myself: "maybe I should get another one of those? neh...I am trying to REDUCE costs and lower gas mileage...remember that crackhead!!!")

2 comments:

user said...

I am trying to decide between the Mazda3 5-door, and the Element. Probably going for the Mazda, better gas mileage, better handling, etc. What did you decide to go for?

Beckbee said...

I chose the xB because I like the way it drove, I liked the options and it just felt good to be in. I didn't like the Mazda3 in terms of comfort and I didn't really like the way it drove. The Element is great if you do alot of outdoorsy stuff, but in terms of handling I wouldn't put it in the same category as the Mazda3. The xB was a nice mix of what I wanted: something to haul all my camping gear in, good driving, and nice atmosphere inside. plus my 6'5" boyfriend can sit comfortably in it. :)