lorenius » cars

Car Shopping Day 1

lorene — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:48:52 +0000

I went car shopping today. First stop was Subaru of Morristown.

We walked in and walked around. I checked out the new Forester. It’s way too big. I want a AWD wagon..not an SUV. So that was out.

I wanted to see an Outback but they didn’t have a showroom. So we asked a salesman and he took us out back to look at them. We took a 2.5 Limited out for a spin. It’s nice inside but lacking on of the things I really want…acceleration.

As I took a right turn up a slight hill I tried accelerating. Well I had the pedal to the metal and didn’t go anywhere. So that’s out. I talked to the salesmen and they do make turbos but he said they didn’t have any and they would be over $30k. If I’m going to spend that much I wouldn’t spend it on a Subaru.

Next stop was Audi of Bernardsville. I had an appointment to test drive an A4 Avant that had the options I wanted. Did a little drive that included a couple of miles on 287 and this the 2.0 Turbo definitely had some pickup. It was also really nice inside – black with beige leather. The electronic parking brake was a little weird. We talked to the salesman a bit and then headed to my aunt/grandmas and had lunch.

Then we headed to Fair Lawn to Jack Daniels Audi. That place was a mess. There were people everywhere and we had to wait over 30 minutes even though we had an appointment. The salesperson we dealt with was ok but overall seems like this dealer was a big hassle to work with. Anyway I’m at least glad to have some numbers from them to use to get better prices at other dealers.

PS This is the car I want. Although I think I may go try some other cars.

European Delivery Vacation

lorene — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:46:11 +0000

I have been looking at the Audi website and I noticed a European Delivery section. Basically you can order your car in the US then pick it up in Europe. Drive it around and drop it off to be shipped back to dealer…all for the price of the car…and airfare. For Audi you get a complimentary night in a hotel and insurance for 15 days.

http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/experience/european_delivery.html

some other companies do this as well
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/strategies/articles/139806/article.html

Fun with Cars!

lorene — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:02:22 +0000

This morning on my way to work I had a little car trouble. As I was merging off the highway exit my car decided to stall. It’s automatic. It stalled 3 times before I was able to go and then it made horrible squeaky noises.

So when I left work today I was a little worried. In the parking lot it was making lots of weird noises and I was trying to decide what to do. As I was getting near the highway entrance it got very weird so I pulled into the parking lot of the Olde Mill Inn and it totally dies. I coast into a parking spot. I couldn’t even get it started. It would turn over and sort of start, then die. So I call AAA.

About 30 minutes later the flatbed truck shows up and he gets my car started in order to move it. I was going to bring it home but my brother calls and says to drop it off at the dealer. So we drop it off at a Subaru dealer but service is closed. So I dropped my keys and I’ll call tomorrow.

The big question is how much it’s going to cost to fix. My car is 10 year old and I’m planning on buying a new one this fall. So I’m starting to look at new cars now. I want another awd wagon.