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Oct. 13th, 2002 11:38 amOn a lark, and to get an idea of what these cars look like in real life as opposed to on a webpage, I went down to a Toyota dealership. Hubby joined me, and Bro and his boyfriend came by too. Bro is really excited that I'm looking to get another car, and that I'm considering a Toyota. I think this is in part because he did a shit-ton of research and therefore feels somewhat vindicated since he bought one; also because if I buy non-American I will be (in his eyes) giving Dad the finger. Whatever, it was still nice to see him.
I looked at the Prius. Nice, but hub is skeptical and wonders why they don't get better mileage than they do (50/41 or so) considering his first Honda got comparable mileage and was not a hybrid. He also worries about the cost of replacing batteries; he and Galon (the mechanic) are both in wait-and-see mode; since the cars are very new, why not wait a few years and see what turns up so they can work the bugs out. They're also expensive. I probably can't afford a loan of more than about $10,000 or so, and since there aren't any 1995 Priuses, I'm probably SOL there.
The Matrix has the same problem- they're brand-new. And anyway, when I got in one, the back was really small. The whole reason I would want a non-sedan car is for camping in- screw this flying to Georgia crap. So by definition then I'd have to be able to lie down flat in the thing. I'm 5'8", and the Matrix was just too short. Ditto the Rav4, sadly. The Sienna looked quite roomy, but was gigantic and expensive and got awful mileage. On the used lot, a fellow with an awful lot of teeth and an awful lot of tan and one of those spiky blond Maxim hairdos tried to sell me on a white Ford Windstar minivan with a TV-VCR in the back. Even if I was ready to buy right then, that wasn't what I was after, though hub said we could use it to watch porn at camp-outs.
So, is there any car that I (and hub) can lay down in that isn't monstrously huge and gets awful mileage? The next candidates for inspection are Subarus; namely the Outback and the Legacy wagons. I didn't even think of those; I somehow assumed that because Paul Hogan was pushing them they must be SUVs. And, from what I can tell, though they tart up Outbacks like SUVs they really are wagons. And they've been around for awhile, get OK mileage (though they're all 4wd, which I would rather not get since I really never need it and it just screws the mileage otherwise), Consumer Reports seems to like them, and used ones seem fairly inexpensive and plentiful. So all I have to do now is find one to actually look at and see if it passes the camping test- i.e., I can lie flat in it. I bet dealers love that. I'll also have to ask Galon what he thinks of Subarus. He said Mazdas are too incestuous with Fords to be trusted, and Saturns were terrible. So I can only guess how he feels about Subarus.
As an aside, I was surprised at how thoroughly we were ignored by most of the sales staff at Toyota. The fact that I drove up in a rusty bucket and had on a tie-dye dress (and hauling long-haired hub in all black) might've had something to do with it, but still. Of course, I should complain that salespeople don't harass me?
I looked at the Prius. Nice, but hub is skeptical and wonders why they don't get better mileage than they do (50/41 or so) considering his first Honda got comparable mileage and was not a hybrid. He also worries about the cost of replacing batteries; he and Galon (the mechanic) are both in wait-and-see mode; since the cars are very new, why not wait a few years and see what turns up so they can work the bugs out. They're also expensive. I probably can't afford a loan of more than about $10,000 or so, and since there aren't any 1995 Priuses, I'm probably SOL there.
The Matrix has the same problem- they're brand-new. And anyway, when I got in one, the back was really small. The whole reason I would want a non-sedan car is for camping in- screw this flying to Georgia crap. So by definition then I'd have to be able to lie down flat in the thing. I'm 5'8", and the Matrix was just too short. Ditto the Rav4, sadly. The Sienna looked quite roomy, but was gigantic and expensive and got awful mileage. On the used lot, a fellow with an awful lot of teeth and an awful lot of tan and one of those spiky blond Maxim hairdos tried to sell me on a white Ford Windstar minivan with a TV-VCR in the back. Even if I was ready to buy right then, that wasn't what I was after, though hub said we could use it to watch porn at camp-outs.
So, is there any car that I (and hub) can lay down in that isn't monstrously huge and gets awful mileage? The next candidates for inspection are Subarus; namely the Outback and the Legacy wagons. I didn't even think of those; I somehow assumed that because Paul Hogan was pushing them they must be SUVs. And, from what I can tell, though they tart up Outbacks like SUVs they really are wagons. And they've been around for awhile, get OK mileage (though they're all 4wd, which I would rather not get since I really never need it and it just screws the mileage otherwise), Consumer Reports seems to like them, and used ones seem fairly inexpensive and plentiful. So all I have to do now is find one to actually look at and see if it passes the camping test- i.e., I can lie flat in it. I bet dealers love that. I'll also have to ask Galon what he thinks of Subarus. He said Mazdas are too incestuous with Fords to be trusted, and Saturns were terrible. So I can only guess how he feels about Subarus.
As an aside, I was surprised at how thoroughly we were ignored by most of the sales staff at Toyota. The fact that I drove up in a rusty bucket and had on a tie-dye dress (and hauling long-haired hub in all black) might've had something to do with it, but still. Of course, I should complain that salespeople don't harass me?
