So, we've purchased the car, transfered the tags and called the insurance company to add it to our policy. Now, its time to figure out where to put the essentials: sunglasses, sunscreen, first-aid kit, anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, etc.
On to the tunes. Time to set the FM pre-sets, AM pre-sets, and load in the CDs... this is a little bitter sweet, this is the first car I've had that came with a CD player, 6-disc in dash actually, no need for a Discman and an adapter, which is way cool right... I've gotten a chance to rifle through my discs and pick some that I haven't listened to in quite some time...
But, now I don't have any way of enjoying my old cassettes. Sure I have a home stereo with a cassette deck, but honestly, it hasn't been played in over a year... and I have a ghetto blaster on a shelf at work, but to turn around and swap cassettes while working, that just doesn't happen. Not to mention the sound quality... the crystal clear digital sound on CD is far superior to that of analog... which has always been a nice theory, except that it has always been too crystal clear, too stunningly perfect... to the point where it sounds too artificial.
I kinda like tape hiss, its like an old blanket on an old couch, it may not be perfect, pretty or clean, but its cozy, warm, and comfortable and I like having it around.
But, on the plus side... this car came with the stereo and AC controls on the steering wheel... I never thought that I would like that feature, but I really do... to the point where I have trouble finding the matching controls on the dash.
stay tuned...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Chapter 2 - Car shopping
So, after a week without a car... two weeks with a rental... a week or so test driving a different car just about every day... my adventure continues...
The first car that I test drove was a 2007 Mercury Montego Premier, think fancy Taurus, a rather nice car indeed. A bit more than we are comfortable spending right now... and speaking of comfortable... this car scared me a little, in the sense that it was just a little too plush for my commute. This car felt like my favorite recliner... at 65mph on the highway, way too comfy.
On we go to a 2008 Fusion SE, with a 24v V6... New car, same engine as was in my Taurus. Not bad idea, same power, smaller and lighter car. Aside from that though, nothing to write home about... no other options really, and I'm not really crazy about cloth seating, they are just not as comfortable to me, and they are harder to clean (and honestly, they looked a little cheap).... and it is Arrest Me Red in color, no thanks.
Next is a 2006 Taurus... decent car, clean, relatively low mileage for the year... but again cloth interior... and the base V6, which really is rather pedestrian for the weight of the car. Too similar to what I had, yet not similar enough. I am sure that had we purchased it, I would have critiqued that car against the qualities of the previous taurus. I just know that I would never have been satisfied with it.
So we're still searching online for a better match. C had suggested the car that had topped the original wish list, the one that got away as it were. A 2007 Mercury Milan Premier, fully optioned with leather, but with a 4 cylinder engine. With gas hovering at $4 a gallon, an improvement in fuel economy might be a nice thing right now, especially now that we will be taking on an unexpected car payment. I had previously owned a Mustang that came with the base 4cylinder, no race horse by any stretch, or fancy for that matter, but solid and reliable. I had it for eight years and put over 100k miles on it without issue, so I can live with a 4 cylinder.
Well, there were no used Fusions on the lot, no used Milans either. I don't fit into a Focus (and thankfully neither do two car seats), and gas is too expensive to even think about a truck, SUV, crossover, or Crown Vic. So I'm really beginning to pull my hair out at this point.
Oh, most of you already know that the reason that I'm so Ford minded is that by nature, I don't really trust car dealers, salesmen, etc. with the only exception being my uncle. So, if he can't service it, I don't want it. Even the chevy I had, I bought from him... but when it needed parts... well, that just made me come back to Ford.
So, it is at this point that I go to the main site of the group that my uncle's dealership is now a part of, ribbit ribbit. Well, if they still have it in stock (see Chapter #1's complaint about their webmaster), there is a Fusion at the autoplex... I make an inquiry, my cousin checks on its availablity, and has it brought down for me to have a look the next day.
So, I pick up the Fusion, it is clean, has leather, and rides suprisingly well for a 4cylinder. It is actually the first Ford that I've driven that doesn't really feel all that Ford-like, which is I guess sort of a compliment albeit back-handed. I kind of assumed that a Fusion would feel like a modern Tempo, Fairmont, of Maverick, just a few less than stellar examples of wasted steel and plastic. I must admit that I was wrong, it actually reminded me more of an old friends 84 Honda Accord, but a 21st century take on it.
And the seats... black leather with contrasting white stitching... looks, feels and smells just like my old baseball mitt.
The first car that I test drove was a 2007 Mercury Montego Premier, think fancy Taurus, a rather nice car indeed. A bit more than we are comfortable spending right now... and speaking of comfortable... this car scared me a little, in the sense that it was just a little too plush for my commute. This car felt like my favorite recliner... at 65mph on the highway, way too comfy.
On we go to a 2008 Fusion SE, with a 24v V6... New car, same engine as was in my Taurus. Not bad idea, same power, smaller and lighter car. Aside from that though, nothing to write home about... no other options really, and I'm not really crazy about cloth seating, they are just not as comfortable to me, and they are harder to clean (and honestly, they looked a little cheap).... and it is Arrest Me Red in color, no thanks.
Next is a 2006 Taurus... decent car, clean, relatively low mileage for the year... but again cloth interior... and the base V6, which really is rather pedestrian for the weight of the car. Too similar to what I had, yet not similar enough. I am sure that had we purchased it, I would have critiqued that car against the qualities of the previous taurus. I just know that I would never have been satisfied with it.
So we're still searching online for a better match. C had suggested the car that had topped the original wish list, the one that got away as it were. A 2007 Mercury Milan Premier, fully optioned with leather, but with a 4 cylinder engine. With gas hovering at $4 a gallon, an improvement in fuel economy might be a nice thing right now, especially now that we will be taking on an unexpected car payment. I had previously owned a Mustang that came with the base 4cylinder, no race horse by any stretch, or fancy for that matter, but solid and reliable. I had it for eight years and put over 100k miles on it without issue, so I can live with a 4 cylinder.
Well, there were no used Fusions on the lot, no used Milans either. I don't fit into a Focus (and thankfully neither do two car seats), and gas is too expensive to even think about a truck, SUV, crossover, or Crown Vic. So I'm really beginning to pull my hair out at this point.
Oh, most of you already know that the reason that I'm so Ford minded is that by nature, I don't really trust car dealers, salesmen, etc. with the only exception being my uncle. So, if he can't service it, I don't want it. Even the chevy I had, I bought from him... but when it needed parts... well, that just made me come back to Ford.
So, it is at this point that I go to the main site of the group that my uncle's dealership is now a part of, ribbit ribbit. Well, if they still have it in stock (see Chapter #1's complaint about their webmaster), there is a Fusion at the autoplex... I make an inquiry, my cousin checks on its availablity, and has it brought down for me to have a look the next day.
So, I pick up the Fusion, it is clean, has leather, and rides suprisingly well for a 4cylinder. It is actually the first Ford that I've driven that doesn't really feel all that Ford-like, which is I guess sort of a compliment albeit back-handed. I kind of assumed that a Fusion would feel like a modern Tempo, Fairmont, of Maverick, just a few less than stellar examples of wasted steel and plastic. I must admit that I was wrong, it actually reminded me more of an old friends 84 Honda Accord, but a 21st century take on it.
And the seats... black leather with contrasting white stitching... looks, feels and smells just like my old baseball mitt.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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