Test drives: Day 1

Today my car came out of the mechanics, and the bill was just $100 more than they had promised. (They forgot to include the cost of towing, so it was actually pretty close - but there goes that last bit that Brokja had her eye on...) Before setting out, I had decided what I wanted in a car/truck/whatever:

1. It must be affordable (no Mercedes, Aston-Martin, Maybach cars for me!)
2. It must be reliable
3. It must have good dealers
4. It must have leather seats (much easier to keep clean than cloth)
5. It must have ABS
6. It must have a navigation system (I used to get lost. A lot.)
7. Any color but black (This is Houston, after all)

Toyota - I wandered around the lot for ten minutes and nobody ever came out to see what I wanted. So I left. And this was at the dealership that the tow truck driver had told me was the best in Houston!

Ford - thought about getting a Ranger. It is a fun little pickup, gets good gas mileage and can haul stuff as needed. However, the only navigation system they have is an after-market jobbie that will add $2500 to the cost. It is still on the list, but much further down.

Ranger

VW - I had saved this one for last. The Eos looked really good on the website,  so much so that one of my co-workers had told me that it was a moral imperative that I buy one [1]. However, when I got to the dealership, I couldn't find any. Until I took a closer look at the sedans I had walked past three times - there they were! Hardtop convertibles really do look just like regular cars, it seems. I went inside and within two minutes a salesperson was helping me [2]. Inside another five minutes, we were out on the road, test driving the car.

Good: The Eos accelerated smoothly, even with just 4 cylinders. The motor was quiet, but had a nice rumble when you pushed on the pedal. The car handled easily and was very stable. Road noise was minimal, even with the top down. Taking down the top was an amusing ballet, and discovering the huge sunroof was even neater [3]. The doors and trunk lid closed with a nice, meaty "thunk!" instead of the more common plastic "click!". A fun information system, put right where you can see it as you drive.

Bad: The car has a lot more plastic than I like, from the fascia on the windscreen to the center console. For $38,000, there should be more "real" material and less plastic, IMHO. The car is very expensive, and unlikely to come down much in price. Driving the car was like sitting in a bathtub (one of the reasons that road noise and win was so low), which will take some adjustment from my Murano. The "pass through" was flimsy and fell out during the test drive. The trunk is (surprise!) small and awkwardly shaped. Auto-dimming mirror with no adjustment (they never dim when I want them to). No button to open your garage door.

Bottom line: I may buy this car yet, but want to take a look at what else is out there first. It wasn't love at first site, just a deep lust.

John

[1] He also said that having an alternator burn out after six years is not unusual in new cars. I miss the good old days of analog machinery...

[2] And the Divinyls was playing on the music system. Contrast that with the nothing on the Toyota system and the (bad) C&W on the Ford system, and it seems like a sign from above. Or at least from a speaker...

[3] They used the sunroof in a lemons/lemonade fashion. It was necessary to keep the hardtop retraction within reasonable limits; that is is an added selling feature is just a bonus.