On Getting a Car
It probably started a few months ago when I started reading Autoblog. Blake commented at the time, "You think you can keep reading Autoblog and not get a new car?" Until that time I had been not exactly happy with my car, but at least not unhappy. A few minor things broke and I've been putting off replacing them for a while. Add to it Chad entering his yearly talk of replacing his truck and I began to actually consider the purchase of something nicer than my old Grand Prix. So I started looking around at what cars I actually like, and what I could get. After examining my finances (even with the reduction of income associated with going back to school) I determined that I can actually afford a really nice car. Being analytical in nature, I made up a spread sheet that rated cars by their "power value". This being a factor that incorporates power/weight ratio and price. Here's my list:
I was somewhat surprised at the result. I didn't think that the Mustang would do so well, but apparently Ford is producing a very powerful car that doesn't cost your first born child (an especially difficult payment for me to make). I'd expected the luxury cars to rank low, but did not expect their score to be that low. They were on the edge of my price range anyway, so that immediately knocked them out of the running. The Mustang's commanding lead made it much more attractive than it had been before I made the spread sheet. The fact that it was also 3rd in power/weight ratio also gave it a boost.
So yesterday Blake and I went out to try to drive some of the top cars from my list. Really the goal was to drive a 350Z and a Mustang, and maybe a Solstice (the Pontiac dealer was closed). The fact that I'm not very good with a stick was of some concern to me but Frank was nice enough to let me drive his truck around some so I felt confident enough. First stop was the Nissan dealer somewhat South of here. They apparently only had 3 Zs in stock. According to their manager, they weren't going to let me drive one unless I was prepared to talk payment with them beforehand (to "keep the mileage down"). I informed them that if I could drive one first then I was uninterested, and left. They gave me their card, but with that sort of attitude, I just threw it away. It seemed like a really odd approach to take, but if those cars really were selling as fast as the dealer claimed, it probably doesn't matter much.
The next stop ended up being the Ford dealer. There the guy, apparently the floor manager or something, was much more accommodating. He sat down and used his computer to look through the inventory and pulled up all the Mustangs in the area. He explained that new cars are actually still owned by Ford. I didn't know that's how it worked but I guess it makes sense. Anyway, they only had one GT actually on the lot, a black '08 (with most of the options that I want). He just photocopied Blake and I's licenses, and gave us the keys. No need to ride along or anything. This was advantageous to me since I never had to explain to him that I only had maybe an hour and a half total time driving a stick before that. Blake took it off the lot, and drove it around 45 a little. Eventually he pulled off at some church near the dealer and did some donuts. Apparently flooring it in second gear produces some exciting drifting. Back at the dealer, I got the guy's card and a promise that he would give me "wholesale" price, with only $500 in markup over the factory cost. I'm not sure how much stock to put in that but if true, gave me even more reason to get the car.
Last stop was Carmax. The plan there was to drive a Z to get a feel for it since the Nissan dealer wouldn't let me. Turns out that Carmax policy is that they have to have the sales guy ride with you. He was really uncomfortable with me driving after I killed the engine, and made me get out. Kind of annoying since I didn't actually get to take it out of first gear. He drove the car pretty hard to show me what it could do though. They were apparently "swamped" there and after I told them that I wasn't planning on making a purchase that day, almost didn't let me drive the car. Another point against.
In the end I decided that after driving the Mustang there wasn't a lot of point in continuing to look at other cars.
- Mustang GT (7.9)
- Altima 3.5SE (7.3)
- 350Z (7.2)
- Eclipse GT (7.1)
- Solstice GXP (7.1)
- Charger R/T (6.8)
- Accord V6 (6.3)
- Grand Prix GXP (6.3)
- RX8 (6.2)
- BMW 335i (4.7)
- Acura TLS (4.6)
I was somewhat surprised at the result. I didn't think that the Mustang would do so well, but apparently Ford is producing a very powerful car that doesn't cost your first born child (an especially difficult payment for me to make). I'd expected the luxury cars to rank low, but did not expect their score to be that low. They were on the edge of my price range anyway, so that immediately knocked them out of the running. The Mustang's commanding lead made it much more attractive than it had been before I made the spread sheet. The fact that it was also 3rd in power/weight ratio also gave it a boost.
So yesterday Blake and I went out to try to drive some of the top cars from my list. Really the goal was to drive a 350Z and a Mustang, and maybe a Solstice (the Pontiac dealer was closed). The fact that I'm not very good with a stick was of some concern to me but Frank was nice enough to let me drive his truck around some so I felt confident enough. First stop was the Nissan dealer somewhat South of here. They apparently only had 3 Zs in stock. According to their manager, they weren't going to let me drive one unless I was prepared to talk payment with them beforehand (to "keep the mileage down"). I informed them that if I could drive one first then I was uninterested, and left. They gave me their card, but with that sort of attitude, I just threw it away. It seemed like a really odd approach to take, but if those cars really were selling as fast as the dealer claimed, it probably doesn't matter much.
The next stop ended up being the Ford dealer. There the guy, apparently the floor manager or something, was much more accommodating. He sat down and used his computer to look through the inventory and pulled up all the Mustangs in the area. He explained that new cars are actually still owned by Ford. I didn't know that's how it worked but I guess it makes sense. Anyway, they only had one GT actually on the lot, a black '08 (with most of the options that I want). He just photocopied Blake and I's licenses, and gave us the keys. No need to ride along or anything. This was advantageous to me since I never had to explain to him that I only had maybe an hour and a half total time driving a stick before that. Blake took it off the lot, and drove it around 45 a little. Eventually he pulled off at some church near the dealer and did some donuts. Apparently flooring it in second gear produces some exciting drifting. Back at the dealer, I got the guy's card and a promise that he would give me "wholesale" price, with only $500 in markup over the factory cost. I'm not sure how much stock to put in that but if true, gave me even more reason to get the car.
Last stop was Carmax. The plan there was to drive a Z to get a feel for it since the Nissan dealer wouldn't let me. Turns out that Carmax policy is that they have to have the sales guy ride with you. He was really uncomfortable with me driving after I killed the engine, and made me get out. Kind of annoying since I didn't actually get to take it out of first gear. He drove the car pretty hard to show me what it could do though. They were apparently "swamped" there and after I told them that I wasn't planning on making a purchase that day, almost didn't let me drive the car. Another point against.
In the end I decided that after driving the Mustang there wasn't a lot of point in continuing to look at other cars.