There have been some changes to the stable of late.
First, my apologies to the regulars for being M.I.A. Lack of time yadda yadda. I do check in almost every day, so I am around even if I don't post. Good to see there are a few new contributing members since I've been gone too, welcome.
Now, some may of may not know, but the Fit is no more. It met its demise a while ago in an accident. It was an excellent car, and I would recommend it to anyone.
The 240 is still going, amazingly. But it is getting old. And last year, the maintenance needed to keep it going costed a hefty chunk of change. For the first time since I've had it, it wasn't being so reliable. It hasn't been as bad this year, but still not great either. I figured the end was near and it was time to get rid of it before I took it into the winter. So it is now for sale. That just left the CL, which meant, new car time!
I'll give a very brief overview of what we looked at:
Honda Accord: I can see why this is one of the benchmarks in the family sedan segment. Smooth 4 cylinder, decent handling for its size, excellent fit and finish, plenty of room. The styling is pretty meh, but I suppose that's better than being ugly. In the end, we decided to pass considering its size. It was just too big, we waned something smaller.
Honda Civic: Again, I can see why this car is so popular. I wasn't sure about the two tiered dash at first, but I got used to it eventually. The model we drove was the EX. Good room, good visibility, good safety ratings. Not so good salesman. He had no interest in selling us this car, so we had no interest in buying it. We moved on.
Saturn Astra: I was really surprised by this car. I knew it wasn't going to be your typical Saturn (since it isn't one, it's an Opel) but it is a great handling car. We tried the 5 door and the 3 door. The 3 door was excellent. We didn't like the seats though, they felt too firm. The gf didn't like the turn signal stock either, something about it not working like a regular turn signal stock. I didn't really get what she was talking about. It wasn't as roomy as the civic, but it was decent for two people. Great looking car too.
Volkswagen Rabbit: Another nice car with tons of power (compared to what we saw earlier in the Hondas). Good safety features, good handling. The fuel economy isn't all that great, but that was to be expected due the the amount of horsepower. As always, VW did the interior right.
Mini Cooper: The best fuel economy out of everything we tested, and possibly the most fun to drive. It wasn't even the S version too. It honestly is like driving a go kart. If you've never driven one before, do yourself a favour, try it. The gf absolutely LOVED its looks, and I was able to get past them
. She wasn't so impressed with the interior though. Not very functional. Not to mention small. We needed a bit more room. Also quite expensive.
Mercedes-Benz B200: I came away pretty disappointed with this car. I wasn't expecting it to be a rocket, but it was so slooooowwww. Too be fair, the test car was an automatic, but still. And this is coming from a guy who drives a 240!. I know the turbo would've remedied this problem, but that would've bumped it out of our price range. I was expecting a little more in the fit and finish and comfort too, being a Benz. Interior room is unbelievable considering its size. I think the salesman said is had the same interior room as an E Class, which is believable. Cool sunroof too. All in all, there were better cars for the money though.
Toyota Matrix: I really did not like this car. From it's styling, its handling, to its price. Too many blind spots, too much body roll in the corners, power was blah. I did however like the positioning of the stick shift. But again, way better cars out there IMO.
Acura CSX: I wanted to see if it was worth the extra cash for this car over the Civic. I came away impressed with the car. More power, more standard features, better looking than the Civic. But still a tarted up Civic nonetheless. By this time we had had our hearts set on a hatch anyway.
Mazda 3 Sport: This car is easily the best in its class. It was easily the funnest to drive, had great versatility, great looks, great power, and great value. If the salesman wasn't such a douchebag, we would've been extremely close to buying one. We also briefly took out the MX5, again an awesome machine. Too bad Mazda has a team of dolts working for them as salesman. The fact that he wouldn't let us take the cars out by ourselves and the fact that he all but completely ignored my girlfriend whenever she spoke, didn't even offer her a chair when we went to talk numbers, and made fun of our 240 when we pulled up, meant no sale for them. I made a complaint with the sales manager about the way we were treated before we left and made a point of saying that they honestly lost a sale because of it.
Volvo C30: For the win. We looked at the 2.4i. The demo car was an automatic, and that really robs the 5 cylinder of its performance. So we went back the next day and asked to drive a manual. What a difference that made. Excellent power when you need it, smooth and quiet when you don't. Fit and finish were typical Volvo. It is quite the little city car too. Quick, nimble and manouverable with adequate fuel economy and a load of safety features. The rear hatch isn't exactly huge, but cargo room doubles when the seats are folded down and since there's only the two of us at any given time, we decided we could just keep the seats down and raise them back up on the odd time we have more than two passengers. Styling is great too. We got a lot of stares from people on the street on the test drives.
They were clearing out 08's, and they had three C30's left. We took the 2.4i, Black Stone in colour, monocoloured t tech seats, with sunroof, cargo cover and a 5 speed manual.
So there you have it. We're picking up the C30 tomorrow afternoon and I really can't wait. I'm sad to be letting go of the trusty 240, but I think the C30 will fill its shoes nicely, even if they are completely different. It was funny to see just how far Volvo has come in 20 years, seeing them parked side by side. When we pulled up into the dealer, three salesmen rushed out to admire the 240 in its condition.
I don't feel obliged to reveal details of the deal financially, but if anyone is seriously considering a C30, send me a PM and I will be happy to talk about the deal we got. The salesman was excellent too, I have no hesitations recommending him should anyone need a contact at Volvo of Halifax.
Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22780465@N07/
