Okay, I gave in, though every time I drive the Honda I feel like a traitor to it and a bit sad at turning my back on such a good old friend. Someone compared it to putting down a pet in pain, but if this car were a pet, I would still be trying to help her, pay the vet for an operation perhaps, not give up on her yet.
I have defied the vocal majority opinion on important issues in the past and been shown to have been right, but when we did divination on the subject it also said pretty strongly that my old car if fixed would not be reliable for long enough to really justify the expense, and that all the models I was considering were actually good choices.
So yesterday I put a deposit on a new car and I should have it within the week, probably this weekend.
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rhiastarr suggested that I look into hybrids. I looked at the info. In theory I think they are a good idea, but I can't justify spending that much more, for that amount of mileage improvement. Mileage above 30 mpg and price less than $15K were two of my major filtering criteria. Hopefully by the next time I buy a car they'll be much more reasonable.
jilara and
dreamsherd were pretty close with their PT Cruiser and small -perhaps Saturn- wagon suggestions.
The problem with modern Civic's and Corolla's both is that trunks have this stupid curve in them that screws up the usable space even if you put the seats down, they have round dashboards, and dealers refuse to sell the base model. Corolla also felt a bit odd to drive. Though I have to admit that the new Civic handled like an old friend. (Not surprising since between this car and my last one, I've been driving Civics for 20 years.)
Dealers - what's up with them? I had two ask me about how important "air conditioning, heater, and stereo" were to me!
* Although I say air conditioning is unimportant to me, they won't sell me a car without it.
* HEATER?? What mass market car sold in this country comes without a heater!
* I did buy my last car with no stereo and only had one put in a year later, but again these guys would not have let me do that.
Why ask this moronic question? Two guys at dealerships for different makes of cars? Is this some weird tactic they teach in dealer training school? If it's supposed to make me think that he's listening... it's kind of doubtful, it's hard enough to get them to understand and remember for more than ten minutes at a time that my MOST important requirement is manual transmission. Just DON'T bother showing me automatics. Though when you do remind them that you want manual, they'll say that they personally only drive manual, and that manual cars hold up better.
When I drove the Corolla the dude acted surprised that I do actually know how to drive a stick. He claimed lots of people who try them can't. Dude! the only cars I've owned have been sticks. I've been driving stick for almost 22 years. Now that I've said this of course, the next time one of you are in a car I'm driving I'll probably do something dumb and have it jump, or stall, or grind, sigh....
So I saw a Matrix, which is basically a Corolla Wagon in the 2000's. I was leaning that way, but concerned about visibility through the small windows as I have to back out of my driveway, plus I assume it drives like a Corolla, and has the round dashboard.
Then I saw the Scions. If you don't know what these things are (I didn't, the commercials are only shown on cable which I don't have) - they are Toyota's attempt to sell to teenager - early 20's kids, especially boys. Well my '91 Civic is a teen boy car too these days.
The xB is like the cars I saw in Japan, actually in Japan it is sold as the bB (black box). It is the same length and only a teeny bit wider than my old Civic, but is quite a bit taller. I've been describing it as the 'anti-Beetle'. It is very square. Straight lines all over the place. Including *bounce* a flat dashboard! Much windows so great visibility around, less blind-spottage. The ride's a bit bumpy, but *much* better than my car was before I replaced the shocks. They claim their target audience likes it better this way. The shifting feels natural. The different position of the driver's seat I can get used to. It's a micro-station wagon with plenty of room in both front and back seats.
The base model includes a bunch of stuff that is "add-ons" in other cars: air conditioning, ABS, CD/MP3 player, remote entry key, power steering, power windows. Now some of these things I could live without. I would really prefer manual windows for example. They don't give you any choice to reject these, but they try hard not to let you reject them on other cars either and they raise the price well above the base MSRP for them. In the Scion they are all included in the base price.
The Scion extra options are kind of funny. There are a few really practical things, but most are just for looks - like neon light strips, really ugly decals, and my favorite - the rainbow illuminated cup holders :) I have to admit being slightly tempted by the cup holder lights, but I passed them up with the reasoning that if I _really_ want them I can always add them later.
So yes, it's obvious by now, but it's a Scion xB that I went for. More after I get it.
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