The New Baby is Home!

Yeah! We picked up my new Element yesterday right before the dealership closed. The color is amazing, much better than I had imagined. She is now parked next to my DH's truck, and as you can see, they are about the same as far as height.

I need to get used to the clutch, which seems tighter than my old Civic, but otherwise, it was a pretty easy drive home. Since it's a Honda, most of the controls are in the same spot as my old car, so it shouldn't take much of an adjustment.

I may have to drive around the block a little today. My next big "road trip" isn't until Monday when it's back to the books and rush hour traffic.

New Car on the Horizon?

I'm exhausted, but we may have a car deal tomorrow. We went to a Honda dealership just north of here, then the Toyota/Scion dealer, and then to a closer local Honda dealership.

I drove the Element, then the Scion, and then the Element again. It was a tough decision, but if all goes well tomorrow, I'll be getting an Element at the local dealership. I really liked the Scion, and my DH was also very impressed, but considering the Element isn't going to cost that much more (maybe at most a few thousand), the gas mileage is not a big difference (10%), and the Toyota people were the most obnoxious *holes I've ever met in my life and I'd as soon get a root canal then ever go back there again, the Honda won out. It is a much larger car, and I liked the fact that the interior is rubber versus carpeting.

It's really too bad that Toyota/Scion has to be so horrible because that's a great little car for the price. Interesting too how different the dealerships are. At the first Honda dealership, it is a brand new facility. You go inside and they have a little kitchenette with bar stools where they bake cookies and offer you free gourmet coffee. They also have flat screen TVs and comfy chairs all over the place, and a small basket ball court inside.

The Scion people get you inside and trick you into sitting in a tiny little office. Then any time you ask a question, the sales person (and you have at least 2 or 3 different people "helping" you) has to run out and ask someone. Then they may or may not have an answer for you, but they tried to get us to sign something saying we'd buy a car right then. We kept telling them that you know where would freeze over before we did that, but they just wouldn't give it up. Finally, the junior sales guy was keeping us busy, and I asked him, "So, do people really come in here off the street and buy a car right away without even thinking about it?" He said, "Yes, all the time." I replied, "Well, we don't do that and never will. We have to go home and talk it over." I think he understood, but as the *hole in training, he wasn't in charge. So, we ended up walking out. Boy, they were freaked.

Finally, we stopped by the local dealership on the way home, and again, it was so much more relaxing. We didn't get any cookies, but the pressure was totally off. I drove the Element again, so I could get a better comparison, and it was a lot more comfortable to me than the first time I drove it. The biggest issue is waiting for them to get me a standard because I only drive cars with a stick shift, not an automatic.

We were running low on time and had to get home for the doggies to do their business, so we are going back some time tomorrow to find out how much they'll give us for my old Honda as a trade in, but we are hoping they will give us a good deal and by the next day, I may have my spiffy new Element to jet about town in. I've been saving up for over a year for this, and as my current Honda Civic has 95,000 miles on it now, it's time to cash it in while it still has some decent trade in value.

I'll be dreaming of my Element tonight!