car shopping

We have two cars. A '95 Taurus, and our *new* car, a '98 Voyager.

We've begun to run into problems getting parts for the Taurus, and I'm sure the Voyager isn't far behind. One thing and then another breaks on a car. The air conditioner belt starts squealing because the compressor freezes up ("$900? In November? On a car that the insurance company thought seriously about totalling instead of paying $2000 for repairs after someone mashed it last year? Not!"). Or you drive your dog to the vet for his chemo, and discover that the car won't turn off. (Who knew this could even *happen*??? Not I! -- part $16, installation $500. Not!)

You limp along on one temporary fix after another, and eventually, sooner or later, you decide "Enough, already!" and buy something new.

I had my mind made up that the next car would be a Prius, but the fly in that ointment turned out to be that it just didn't fit. My DH is 6'4", most of which is in his torso. Many cars just do not work, and, alas, the Prius turned out to be one of them.

Today we went out, again, and tried on more cars. I can't see any point at all in doing research on repair records or mileage or whatever, until we know that we can comfortably *drive* a particular vehicle.................

I want a hatchback. I moved everything I had (but the fridge) from my old house to this house in a Chevette. I know I can't do that now, but if you want to buy some lumber, or something, you gotta have a hatchback. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. (Nevermind that I don't want to spend All That Money and just get ... a plain old boring car-looking car.)

We went west out of town, and the first dealership is Ford. Does an Escape fit? Not. All righty then. Next?

Oops, slid right by Volvo (those Swedes are tall, maybe a Volvo would work....).

Saturn Vue? Yep, fits just fine. We drove it down the road a bit, and drove it back. Room for golf clubs in back? Check. Excellent.

Ok, go back to Volvo. I don't know what the name is of the Volvo that looks like a Vue or an Escape, but ... Not. The salesguy (blond, but not tall) had DH sit in some other thing, which was big enough, but $36,000. Not. We told him that was almost twice as much as the Vue, and he told us that his was a Premium European car. *Well* then. I guess some people will pay twice as much, for Premium European, but we are not among them. Nevermind. Next?

Nissan. Murano, $36,000. Then the salesman suggested we look at the Versa hatchback. It looks little, but was ok comfy. We drove it. We liked the way it handled. It is small. It is cheap -- base price, $15k. (We were very -- pleasantly -- surprised to find that any cars start so low!) Both of us felt like we had to *reach* forward for the steering wheel.... Not sure how much we liked that..... I could see VERY well, in front and to the side in the Versa. Gotta like that. Room for clubs, no problem.

We probably should have looked at Subaru, but we drove on by and went to Chrysler. No PT Cruisers on the lot, but the sales guy told us that Bob was going to be more comfortable in a Jeep than anything else he tried. Jeep? JEEP? Well, ok, we'll try it............ There is a lever -- you pump and the seat goes up or down. A lot. More than 4". DH actually didn't want the seat to be all the way back -- a first.

It is very utilitarian inside -- no cushioning on armrests, for example. But it was the most comfortable for DH that we tried today (his very fave is our Voyager). I thought it was ok. I didn't feel that I could see very well from the passenger seat, but once I pumped the driver seat all the way up (I am 5'3"), I was fine. DH said he could see better in the Jeep than either the Vue or the Versa. Another vehicle with a base price under 20k (17k it was, I think).

We tried the Compass, which is more rounded in the back. (Less ugly than other options, imh.) Plenty of room for clubs, and even the front passenger seat folds down, so you can buy your 2"x4"x8' boards and bring them home, no problem......

We are a long way from making a decision. We'll have to try Subaru. Chevrolet? VW. We were glad we stopped in and just tried things -- we had never heard of a Versa, and certainly weren't considering a Jeep.

The Vue and the Jeep both come in orange................... I know that right now is going to be my only chance in my lifetime to have an orange car............. If we end up having one built, it will definitely be orange..................... If we buy a 2007, it just needs to not look like pavement. No black, no dark gray......

The Jeep also comes in a very nice blue..........

I love shopping, but what I love to shop for is 50-cent shirts at the Kiwanis thrift store. I hate buying stuff that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, that you can't know if you really like until you own it. Feh.

Ah well. I'm glad we made it to five dealerships today. That was more than I thought we might have stamina for........

I'm even gladder that we found some things that might work...........