Car testing week. Not car buying week.

 I intended to get back to writing more here. I did get some fun in last week. I am a car fan and when a tour of a car lot got Deborah thinking about her having the Focus at school I went and looked more seriously.

Along the way I test-drove a used miniscule Mercedes Smart ForTwo. I was shocked how comfortable it was, but the way the transmission shifted was just awful. I am still at a total loss as to how Mercedes, of all companies, could engineer such an unnerving lurch into a transmission. No way was I buying that. Moreover, it was priced like a Corolla, with half the functionality. Ridiculous. The SmartCar company that was importing these is folding up shop and who knows how they will get serviced. Sales are nose-diving.

I drove a Mazda2 at three different dealers this past week. One was a cheaply equipped base model with a manual transmission. The other two were top equipped models (with Cruise, alloy wheels, etc.) The automatic was a little too slow. The manuals were nice with the top models quieter and nicer. They were all way too expensive. We got Ben’s Nissan 18 months ago for $13,100. These cars more fun and I like that more than the smooth, quiet, roominess of his Versa. For myself, the Mazda2 is a little more desirable, but a Mazda2 equipped like Ben’s Versa cost $15000. It’s a bad time to buy a car. The inventories are way down due to the Japanese quake (even though this model is likely made in Mexico), and with gas approaching $4 a gallon the car companies and dealers think they have the customers right where they want them. Not me.

I also drove my first Jeep. It was brandy-new and quite polished. It was OK to drive, very solid, but the engine was running rough. This is bad for a brand new truck. Really bad. How did Jeep mess this up? It also had way too much wind noise to drive to Michigan two or three times a year. Gas mileage would be painful.

I test-drove a Chrysler/Mercedes Crossfire. These two-seaters are practically a $40,000 Mercedes with a US Chrysler designed style for $30,000 new I drove a used one. I like how they look. The one I drove had the very aggressive tires. It rode awfully. It felt like the proverbial buckboard. There was no give in the inch-thin tires at all. I didn’t even drive it two blocks. I knew I didn’t want it. It was nicely priced. A bargain. Someone else’s bargain.

So, the car buying idea of last week was a bust.

I have always planned to buy myself a car just for me when the kids all finish college. I was jumping the gun.

The Summer of 2012 will be a lot better time for me to look for a distinctive looking little two-door with a manual shifter and great 4 cylinder gas mileage. Mazda may come out with a cheaper two-door version of the Mazda2. Honda is reportedly going to sell a version of the CRZ without the hybrid drive train. Biggest news is that Hyundai will have a two-door Elantra, as well as the model that I am most likely to settle on, an odd-duck car that has one door on the driver’s side and two on the passenger side along with an available roof that is glass from the front windshield wipers to the end of the rear hatch. The Hyundai Veloster (for velocity + roadster) is a funky looking model that will get 40 MPG highway.

Besides the fact that these three models will arrive next year, Deborah will also likely need a car for her student teaching during her last year of college. She can have the Focus that is in the shop today. It hasr a leak and a rough engine (btw, even at 75,000 miles it was not as rough as the new Jeep AND it will just take new spark plugs to fix it). They called to say it needed new exhaust parts too. It is still making the KRUNKING sound again when you turn the front wheels. She can drive that her last year of school (2012-2013) but I will have a special deal for her when she graduates.

I suppose all the car talk bores many of you, but it was lots of fun for me to look, drive, and dream all week.