Well, we did it! Finally the search is over and I'm glad. It was getting hard keeping track of the pros and cons of all those cars I've been driving. There is a new car in the garage! However, it marks the end of an era for this family.
The car, a Nissan Rogue, is aptly named, for by buying it I am definitely "Going Rogue" (excuse me, Sarah for stealing your line). For the past 40 plus years, my husband has only owned 1 vehicle that wasn't 1) American made and 2) a GM product. His dependency on GM products was probably shaped mainly at his father's knee, or perhaps more literally, standing behind him in the garage. My father-in-law was a mechanic by trade and worked on most American made cars in the days before computerization made him see the wisdom of retirement. Frequent complaints of how Fords were put together had a lasting impression on my father-in-law's son. I have no idea if there was any truth to the mutterings or if it was just the general cursings of a man under the hood of a car, but to an impressionable teenager, Ford was out. GM was in.
It is hard to know exactly what changed it all, but the plight of GM in this last year, the death of Pontiac, the difficulty in even test-driving a car we most likely would have bought (GMC Terrain or Chevy Equinox) sent us exploring other paths. I even drove a Ford and a Mercury! In all honesty, the Toyota RAV4 was my favorite car, but I don't believe Toyota knows what is the cause of their current problems and I wasn't willing to put my life in their hands. Incidentally, as a teenager, my parent's Chrysler had a problem with the Cruise Control and one day as I was driving on an expressway the car took over. It is a scary experience and happened to me twice. I don't ever want to go there again!
We were almost ready to buy the Mercury Mariner when I brought up the issue of a 6-CD changer. Hmmm! They don't make them. Then Larry discovered they didn't have an external temperature gauge.
So there we were. I sent Larry out with a choice of 3 cars: Honda CRV, Dodge Journey, and the Nissan Rogue. When the dealing was done, we were the proud owners of our first foreign made car.
And it's Cranberry Red. Perfect for me!
When we called the kids to tell them the news they were shocked.
"MOM! How did you convince Dad to buy a foreign car??"
"Simple", I said. "It was a matter of 'two sinks in the bathroom'."
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I see you're getting the red car before I am! I dream of having a red car before I croak *g*
ReplyDeleteIt is tricky purchasing a car now with the auto companies as they are. Chrysler and GM are -- "iffy" -- as is Toyota. Ray and I have always purchased Fords because this one dealership always took care of the trucks for Ray's propane business, and we were very happy with their trucks, cars and service on them. Over the years, I've been happy with my 3 Tauruses, and 3 Lincoln LS's. It flips me out now that I realize that is a total of 6 cars, and I'm not even including the first Ford I got -- a black '84 Thunderbird.
I have a bit of time before I get into car hunting, but not sure what I'll do then. I've even considered Subaru, as Scott loves his, though I'm concerned about the cost of service for that car. However, like Larry, Ray really wants to purchase American,. But, for the moment I'm not sure it's wise....
Whatever the case, both you and I need reliable cars due to our cruising around the country in our cars alone. :)