The tag on the front lets you know just how long a MINI has been in my life. Although I'd been thinking about this for a while I couldn't let go. Well, now I have. My first MINI came soon after my mom died. I had a beautiful yellow one with a black top which I called my happy face car. I was pretty devastated after her death and it was one part of the healing process as I knew it would make her smile to see such a cute little car. Jonathan took that one over about two years ago and I got the current one to replace it. I must admit I was never as attached to this one as my previous one for obvious reasons. I'd always seen a car as just a tool to get around but the yellow one....well, that one was very special.
I looked at the Scion on Wednesday, as well as the Ford Edge, and the Saturn Vue. Bill and Jonathan were horrified at the prospect of me driving a Scion which to tell you the truth the new design didn't excite me as much as the previous style. I'd seen one in the parking lot at the dry cleaners which prompted my search. As well the dealership people held me hostage for well on two hours. They put some serious pressure on me but eventually I got away. I thought I might buy American this go round but as it turns out the Saturn is only 30% made in the US. Surprised? I was.
When I finally got back home I did some serious research on cargo capacity in mid size SUVs. After reading "Confessions of a Car Salesman" on the Edmunds site I was armed with information to head out again yesterday. This time I went to the Honda dealership which was clean, empty, and the salesman was very cordial. I knew he was dying to get me into a car but he restrained from pressuring me. Anyway I ended up with another funky vehicle--the Honda Element. I called Bruce a few times and he gave me good advice--tell them if they wanted to deal today they needed to throw in roof racks which they agreed to. I've never owned a Honda before but I figured I couldn't go wrong with one. Get this--it is 70% made in Ohio. The drive was good, I got a silver one because it won't show dirt as much as a dark car, and the gas mileage is decent. Of course those window stickers usually are deceiving but we'll see. I don't drive all that much these days and since it doesn't require premium fuel like the MINI the cost should be a wash. So my friends, here it is:
Not nearly as cute as a MINI (what vehicle is?); hopefully the practicality will outweigh the cuteness factor.
I will tell you Jonathan is not thrilled with this one either, but at least it's not a Scion. More importantly Bruce likes it just fine. As I mentioned I called him but he had no idea what it looked like. I'm looking forward to him designing all sorts of cool storage options in it. You knew that was coming didn't you? We'll do our initial packing this afternoon and find out if I made a good choice.
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