Thursday, June 29, 2006

It's a new car!!!

I'm sure everybody who shops for a car goes through all the agony I do. Earlier this spring my 2000 Impala began to show signs of its age. I fixed the intake manifold, then I fixed the power steering belt (including tow), then came the rotors, the battery and alternator (another tow at 11:00PM on I495 in the rain). The service department let me know the tie rod ends were gone, Richard discovered a missing bolt on the sway arm and the A/C no longer spewed cold air. It did admirably with the hot...but no cold. Oh! And the fans fried a resistor pack. The blue car was telling me it was ready to retire.

After some soul searching I decided what I wanted to finance and discovered I wouldn't be looking at another Impala. It was most depressing. So I entered into the world of the Economy car. I test fitted a Toyota Corrolla, Honda Civic, Chevy Cobalt and Mazda M3. One salesman told me the smaller steering wheels would help me turn the car easier...I was pretty sure it was so I wouldn't hit my elbows on the doors. The high MPG ratings looked promising. But...but... I'm a car girl. You all know this! I have LOVED driving my V6 roomy Impala for the past seven years. Before that I puttered with 4-cylinder cars. Something was missing; a growl under the hood when I demanded a little more from the engine.

So this week when my Chevy dealer called to let me know that they were having a 0% Financing Sale this week, I saw my chance. Without paying a bank, it was possible to keep the little monster under the hood. So today we trotted down to the dealer, picked out a pretty red car and took her for a spin on the highway. Oh yeah. She was coming home.

2006 Chevrolet Impala LT. Sport Red. Ivory interior with lots of buttons for me to play with. The remote start was standard (So I don't have to walk out to a dark car at 2AM on Saturday nights) and this time cruise control was included as well. Oh! And it has a compass program that tells me to drive in circles to set it. Yeah, I'm chuckling. I will get to play with ONStar and decide if I will give up my ancient suitcase style cell-phone. It serves much the same purpose plus theft deterrent.

Well, there she is! And I'm a happy girl :-)

Love,
Sonya Posted by Picasa