Take The Blue Pill, Neo
I have been car shopping since the accident from the comfort of my recliner. I had narrowed it down to a few 5-doors and small SUVs, with the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester in the front running. I (im)patiently awaited the day I felt well enough to take some test drives. I hemmed and hawed over automatic vs stick. I eventually decided on automatic, in spite of my love of stick shifts, because I’d have to wait until the dark side of God-knows-when to drive a stick again with the still unconnected collarbone issue and no driving approval. With an automatic, I can drive now for short periods – steering one handed and shifting left handed. It’ll be an adventure! For the rest of you on the road with me, that is. Hah. But hey, at least I can get my own damn groceries now, among other small errands I’ve been dependent on others to run.
Today I enlisted my MIL and went car shopping. By the end of the day I was exhausted, she was exhausted, my injured shoulder/collarbone was throbbing mercilessly, we had gasped ourselves silly laughing at everything from stupid cars (The Scion, aka The Toaster) to bad salesmen (like the one that would not let us leave, and kept disappearing for eons at a time, eventually chasing us to her car and holding my door open trying to make a last minute sale. Uh, no thanks, asshat.) After testing driving nearly 20 different vehicles of all makes and models in my 5-Door/Small SUV classes, I picked one, and I bought it.
After all of these years with SUVs, everyone will be shocked to know which car I fell in love with. Was it the Toyota RAV4? Nope. Subaru Forester? Double nope and a bad sales experience to boot. Honda CR-V? Nope, compounded by their price tag – if I’d found one that fit my criteria I would not have been able to buy it in my range. Dodge Caliber? No! I actually had a very hate on sight reaction to this one, plus it had issues with roominess (as in there was none) and visibility (as in having none). The Mazda3 was too small, the Outback was too pricey and also had a ton of blind spots… the list of rejected cars I thought I’d love goes on and on.
So what car was the lucky winner of a spot in my driveway? In a shocking come-from-behind maneuver (drumroll please) The TOYOTA MATRIX XR.
It is the smallest car I’ve ever owned, but it feels huge when you sit in it. It is a 4 cylynder, but it had plenty of get-up-and-go on the highway and around town. It is a 2006, and the previous owner got every option possible (no kidding, it’s a little like driving a space shuttle or something), including a remote car starter (um, yay). The dealer met my price negotiation with no haggling at all, dropping it from list by a significant amount. It is under warranty. It has a rich sound system and rides in near silence so you can actually enjoy it. Sunroof, comfy seats, AWD, enough airbags in enough places to make a hard landing feel like a night on a Tempurpedic, lots of storage, room for the dogs – I just love all the stuff this car has as well as how it drives.
It has decent safety ratings – 5 and 4 stars on all but Side Impact Passenger, which I can live with, especially with all 1 million air bags and the other safety features the previous owner opted for. It handled well in mud (there was no snow to test it on today, unfortunately) and in light ice. It’s a bit lighter than I’m used to, but not much. It has seats that fold perfectly flat, so even though it is small you could fit a long piece of lumber in it if you needed to. Why I’d need that I have no idea, since honey may never get to drive this car… hee hee (just kidding, honey).
The dealer had it up on their web site until I bought it, so I can actually share with the interwebs the actual car, which I pick up tomorrow all clean and shiny and new car smelling:
The dealer is Hurlbert Toyota, and the awesome salesperson is Gary Anderson. Tell him I sent you or ask me for his card!
Now Listening: The Be Good Tanyas Hello Love
Other places you can read my stuff today: here and here
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