Turning anxiety into a vehicle for change
(haha, PUN! -- oh boy, it's late)
Yes, I'm up at the ungodly hour of "dead time" (3am) after having spent a manic several hours researching and making calculations and adjustments on a future vehicle I may or may not be in the market to purchase in the next year (hopefully sooner).
Under advisement of nonlegal counsel (although one might still technically be my power of attorney...), I am (probably) in the market for a new car, even if I would probably be happy with a used one. This is mostly due to financing perks, insurance purposes, warranties, and general expectations of longevity and reliability.
For the sake of clarity, I am only interested in small cars. Like, VERY small. You might say beggars can't be choosers, but I also have weird anxiety issues with driving, so will only purchase and drive something I am entirely comfortable in. I can't be worrying about driving AND scared about handling something overly large at the same time.
My dream car (the Mini Cooper) is outside of my price range (well...when I crunched the numbers, I COULD squeeze it possibly, but I just can't HURT like that again and for that many YEARS...at a painful $24,000) and the most money I've ever made in a tax year was last year, which was still just barely past the poverty threshold. This tax year, I'll be several thousand short because of the shortage of hours in conjunction with our years-enforced pay freeze since I started (oh, 5 years ago?).
So that dream is gone. For now.
Likewise, the Volkswagen Beetle is deceptively pricey at around $22,000.
Thus, the search began for a cheaper car with a manageable (for my brain) size. I love the compactness of the SMART, but it's lack of performance ratings is pretty disappointing, especially considering it's made by GERMANS who have the AUTOBAHN. Doesn't that immediately suggest quality and speed? Alas.
So there are two options I'm looking at now.
The Fiat 500 Lounge is a tad pricey at $20,000 but it has similar performance ratings as the Mini Cooper (even if it's not as zippy), plus a bit more cargo room for less monies. Could be worth it. The downside is that, of course, the Fiat 500 Pop, at base price is a lovely $16,000 and the Fiat 500 Sport $18,000...but the former is manual transmission only and the latter that weird automatic manual transmission thing where there is still a clutch and gear shift, but you only shift up and down, the car can figure out which gear sequentially follows in either direction. So I'm "stuck"(?) having to opt for the "highest" end model, which I'm sure is a sweet ride, but is still lots of money.
The alternative would be the 2012 Scion iQ, which will hit the North American market fully in March 2012. The price looks right at $16,200 but it's too soon to know whether it will be worth it or not (I'll be monitoring reviews). It is posed as an alternative to the SMART fortwo as a cute, two door miniscule vehicle that magically seats 3+1 (the plus one being a child or pet). Like its counterpart, highway performance isn't great, but it is better and seems to be a great city car that handles well. WE SHALL SEE.
Here is both a text review and a video review (2 videos with an ad break in-between) from CNET. (But beware, that stereo system he seems in love with is like an extra $1200 in options)
Both are low-emission cars.
I suppose I should be leaning more towards the Fiat if I expect to be driving it for ten years. Maybe I can give my sisters puppy dog eyes and convince them to lend me a couple thousand interest-free. XD
Yes, I'm up at the ungodly hour of "dead time" (3am) after having spent a manic several hours researching and making calculations and adjustments on a future vehicle I may or may not be in the market to purchase in the next year (hopefully sooner).
Under advisement of nonlegal counsel (although one might still technically be my power of attorney...), I am (probably) in the market for a new car, even if I would probably be happy with a used one. This is mostly due to financing perks, insurance purposes, warranties, and general expectations of longevity and reliability.
For the sake of clarity, I am only interested in small cars. Like, VERY small. You might say beggars can't be choosers, but I also have weird anxiety issues with driving, so will only purchase and drive something I am entirely comfortable in. I can't be worrying about driving AND scared about handling something overly large at the same time.
My dream car (the Mini Cooper) is outside of my price range (well...when I crunched the numbers, I COULD squeeze it possibly, but I just can't HURT like that again and for that many YEARS...at a painful $24,000) and the most money I've ever made in a tax year was last year, which was still just barely past the poverty threshold. This tax year, I'll be several thousand short because of the shortage of hours in conjunction with our years-enforced pay freeze since I started (oh, 5 years ago?).
So that dream is gone. For now.
Likewise, the Volkswagen Beetle is deceptively pricey at around $22,000.
Thus, the search began for a cheaper car with a manageable (for my brain) size. I love the compactness of the SMART, but it's lack of performance ratings is pretty disappointing, especially considering it's made by GERMANS who have the AUTOBAHN. Doesn't that immediately suggest quality and speed? Alas.
So there are two options I'm looking at now.
The Fiat 500 Lounge is a tad pricey at $20,000 but it has similar performance ratings as the Mini Cooper (even if it's not as zippy), plus a bit more cargo room for less monies. Could be worth it. The downside is that, of course, the Fiat 500 Pop, at base price is a lovely $16,000 and the Fiat 500 Sport $18,000...but the former is manual transmission only and the latter that weird automatic manual transmission thing where there is still a clutch and gear shift, but you only shift up and down, the car can figure out which gear sequentially follows in either direction. So I'm "stuck"(?) having to opt for the "highest" end model, which I'm sure is a sweet ride, but is still lots of money.
The alternative would be the 2012 Scion iQ, which will hit the North American market fully in March 2012. The price looks right at $16,200 but it's too soon to know whether it will be worth it or not (I'll be monitoring reviews). It is posed as an alternative to the SMART fortwo as a cute, two door miniscule vehicle that magically seats 3+1 (the plus one being a child or pet). Like its counterpart, highway performance isn't great, but it is better and seems to be a great city car that handles well. WE SHALL SEE.
Here is both a text review and a video review (2 videos with an ad break in-between) from CNET. (But beware, that stereo system he seems in love with is like an extra $1200 in options)
Both are low-emission cars.
I suppose I should be leaning more towards the Fiat if I expect to be driving it for ten years. Maybe I can give my sisters puppy dog eyes and convince them to lend me a couple thousand interest-free. XD