Out With the Old, In With the New

At the end of Christmas break my Dad turned to me and asked if I could have a new car, what would I get? He told me to start thinking and crunching numbers. The Beetle was intended to last through college, after which I would join the "real" world, make some money and get something new. Well, my detour to grad school left two options: fix the Beetle up so that it lasts through the end of grad school, or trade it in for something new.

That got me to thinking. Man, would it be nice to have a new car. Plus, the Beetle needed at least $2000 worth of repairs... not including labor. That, along with the fact that it was only worth $3700 and nearing 100k made me start car shopping. My dad suggested a Mazda3, and I remember how well it did on Topsis, so I started there. I considered the 6 also, and started doing comparisons versus everything in the same class... honda accord and civic, toyota corolla and camry, ford focus, vw jetta and passat, etc etc.

I settled on test driving a 3 and 6 (but leaned more towards 6... I remembered how much I loved it at the car show), so off Dad, Will and I went to Jim Ellis last Friday afternoon. After 2 hours of test driving... first a 2005 4 cylinder Mazda 6, a 2006 Mazda 3 and a 2006 6 cylinder Mazda 6. I can now say that I understand why their slogan is "zoom zoom." Unfortunately, I loved the v6, which means bigger price tag.

I ended up getting one from a dealership my brother recommended. It's the first car where I've considered performance as seriously as any other metric (in fact, I chose to spend more for the nicer engine as opposed to moonroof and cd chager) and boy does it show. Everything I drive it, I smile. And it's not hard on the eyes, either.


One of the best parts, though, is that I totally did everything myself. Well, except for the male support that every girl needs at a dealership. It's only my name on the papers, which is awesome. I feel like such an adult... up next, a "real" place to live!

Plus, this car is so nice compared to my other one, it's a huge step up. I even forgot to be sad to part with my little Beetle... even after all we'd been through.

Some of the features I adore:
215 hp (makes it very zoomy)
6spd automatic... but still manual in a way
Climate control
Satellite radio (1st month as a trial, thanks to will!)
Auto-dim mirror
Audio control things on the steering wheel
Nice stereo system
Power seats
HUGE trunk!

and I'm sure I'll find many many more!

... ok, so I'm being totally superficial. Oh well :-p