Don’t tell my Subaru, but…
Yesterday we went out test-driving.
Our first stop was the Toyota dealership where Priuses… Prii are going like hot cakes and they didn’t have one on the lot to look at. The nice sales dude did take us to the warehouse for “already sold” cars (on the third floor!!!) to sit in the only Prius they had around. The Fop mostly fits. I still think it’s too light on highways (it gets blown around a lot) but I might get used to that. It gets 20 more miles per gallon than my current car, but I worry about the stability, especially in extreme weather, given how light it is.
Our second, rather fateful stop was at the Mini dealership. The Clubman is adorable. I didn’t like it all until I saw it in person. The only stick shift they had available to test drive was a turbo version. Oops. That was fun! Too fun probably. Now I’m comparing horsepower between the turbo and the non-turbo and cross-referencing against my current car. I’m going to go back for a longer test drive during the week and one out onto the highway. I’m doomed, I think. Even the turbo gets 10 mpg more than my current car. Bonus feature of the Mini: No new car smell. Drawback: Rear visibility limited but mostly mitigated by side mirrors.
Our last stop was at the Subaru dealership. Foresters got huge at some point in the past few years. I tested out a Forester (automatic… *yawn*) and a Legacy (stick shift, more fun but not exciting by any means). Alas I still dislike what they’ve done to the Impreza with the latest redesign. I like the “baby wagon” look of my 1998 Impreza. Now the Impreza looks like every other hatch-back. And the Forester looks more and more like every other small SUV. Ultimately, this is a drawback for me. I like my car NOT to look like every other car in the lot. I suppose I could get flames painted on… The Subarus are all-wheel drive and handle well, but they don’t get significantly better gas mileage now than they did 10 years ago. Another drawback: Intense new car smell. Ew. Bonus: Subaru actually has cars in stock.
The Prius is back-ordered 6-10 weeks. The Clubman is back-ordered 3 months or more. But I could have walked out with a Subaru yesterday. (The only annoying moment of “I hate salesmen” yesterday was at the Subaru dealership when the sales manager swung by to be all sales-y at us about wanting to make a deal on the L.L. Bean edition we were poking at so he could get it out of his showroom. The sales guy who was helping us was pretty annoyed by this too.) Luckily, my time line for purchasing is like 6 months. I think I’ll need to replace my car this year – it’s got a few more good trips in it, but I think ultimately it’s getting to the point where I should stop taking long road trips up and down the Eastern seaboard with it. It’s 10 1/2 years old after all!
At this point, I’ve narrowed my choices down to the Prius and the Clubman – the Clubman with a strong lead. I have a few friends who are Mini and Prius owners. I’ll be asking them how their cars handle in the winter and on highways. I’m still taking suggestions. I’m looking for a medium-sized car that gets over 30 mpg, doesn’t look like every other car in its class and is a stable, reliable vehicle. I’m not a fan of trunks.