lazygood4nothinbum
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,895
the compromise: it’s not yellow, the interior is made of plastic cheaper than my sockem rockem robots, poser spoiler would have cost rebates to build new with delete, it doesn’t have tiptrontic (semi-automatic) transmission, the gas mileage isn’t so great, would prefer better range (only a 16 gal tank), that throaty exhaust sounds great in town but i bet it’ll get tiring on long drives, and all that muscle raises my insurance cost by $340/year. apparently, like medical insurance, they think it’s fat.
the objective: next 5 years of summer roadtrips out of south florida, setting up base for 3 or 4 months at a time mostly in northern or higher altitude cities or towns in u.s.a. & canada.
car requirements:
• fun convertible.
• auto top – i drive topless until the rain falls too hard or the car has to slow so i need auto roof to stay safe on highway shoulders.
• power to weave around city suv’s & to quickly pass slower highway traffic.
• enough storage space for roadtrip luggage.
• capable of carrying mtn & road bike on trunk or preferable hitch type rack.
• nothing too big, i like personal sized cars.
• nothing too expensive as will put on lots of mileage over short period.
• i really wanted yellow but today’s yellow is ewwwwww orange.
rejection slips
1. 350z: cockpit too narrow for confortable long distance roadtripping
2. s2000: love driving a stick but not all the time
3. solstice: way too small, accepts neither bike rack on trunk nor hitch
4. saturn sky: no automatic top, accepts neither bike rack
5. bmw 335: too nice for me. truck kinda small, can’t use a trunk bike rack, would be a shame to ruin it with a hitch. can’t see spending that kind of $s and putting the type of miles i think i might be doing. nice as hell car though. saving that one for when i’m an old guy.
6. mini cooper: nice car, accepts hitch for bike, surprisingly roomy but a little slow and not enough metal around me for extended drives.
7. eclipse spyder: no offense intended but yuck.
8. vette: too much money to put too many miles on an american car.
9. pontiac g6: not terrible just not me. also small trunk & not fast enough.
10. solara: man that’s a lot of money to spend on such an ugly car.
11. eos: also too much money for a vw. also ugly, also too slow.
12. sebring: i’d always have a feeling that i left my kids at the last reststop.
and the winner is…
mustang gt: white exterior, 18-inch, 5-spoke chrome wheels, tan & black interior, including tan interior doors with charcoal inserts, black convertible top & 300 ponies under the hood. gas mileage should be a little worse than the t-bird but driving a lot more fun. the bird averages 19 mpg with my lead foot. the pony might get 15 city. low 20s highway.
the beemer would maybe better by 7 mpg but the cost difference will buy a lot of feed for the pony. even the mini surprisingly does not have great mileage. i decided against the $2k navigation. my cell phone has gps for $10/month so the savings will buy lots of air time. will consider an after market nav system.
it’s a pretty pony. a horse of a different color. mostly car interior & tops match but i like neither tan tops nor black interiors. sales person said what i wanted would look choppy but they found one in jacksonville (the only one they could find in southeast u.s.a.) & shipped it down. the car came in on saturday and my color scheme looks as great as i thought it would because it’s the same colors i used for my kitchen.
the car priced $432 under what i would have paid.
msrp $33,480 not including wheels
here’s how i figured what i would have paid:
31,168 invoice
500 dealer profit
160 ship from jax
1,549 wheels
250 tag/registration
8 battery/tire enviro fee
599 documentation fee (dealer fee charged every customer)
2,020 sales tax (approx)
(1,995) rebates
34,359 (what i thought i was going to pay)
33,927 my bill including all options, fees & tax ($5,000 deposit on double points earning credit card).
what edmunds says i should have paid (including tax): $34,417. however, while edmunds caught the $1,000 rebate, they missed an additional $995. with the added rebate their quote might have come in a tad lower than what i paid but i’m not sure how to figure tax on rebate. my auto industry friend says to trust the dealer in figuring tax because they would not take a chance on getting caught in an audit. i asked my friend what extra gimme should i request to close the deal. my friend suggested i ask for yellow paint.
while i’m comfortable that i got at least a good enough deal, and confident i didn’t get totally screwed, i’m so glad i don’t have to do this every day. i think that would force me into early retirement.
they’re shoeing the pony today and grooming for show. will post pics on delivery.
edit: added pics
the objective: next 5 years of summer roadtrips out of south florida, setting up base for 3 or 4 months at a time mostly in northern or higher altitude cities or towns in u.s.a. & canada.
car requirements:
• fun convertible.
• auto top – i drive topless until the rain falls too hard or the car has to slow so i need auto roof to stay safe on highway shoulders.
• power to weave around city suv’s & to quickly pass slower highway traffic.
• enough storage space for roadtrip luggage.
• capable of carrying mtn & road bike on trunk or preferable hitch type rack.
• nothing too big, i like personal sized cars.
• nothing too expensive as will put on lots of mileage over short period.
• i really wanted yellow but today’s yellow is ewwwwww orange.
rejection slips
1. 350z: cockpit too narrow for confortable long distance roadtripping
2. s2000: love driving a stick but not all the time
3. solstice: way too small, accepts neither bike rack on trunk nor hitch
4. saturn sky: no automatic top, accepts neither bike rack
5. bmw 335: too nice for me. truck kinda small, can’t use a trunk bike rack, would be a shame to ruin it with a hitch. can’t see spending that kind of $s and putting the type of miles i think i might be doing. nice as hell car though. saving that one for when i’m an old guy.
6. mini cooper: nice car, accepts hitch for bike, surprisingly roomy but a little slow and not enough metal around me for extended drives.
7. eclipse spyder: no offense intended but yuck.
8. vette: too much money to put too many miles on an american car.
9. pontiac g6: not terrible just not me. also small trunk & not fast enough.
10. solara: man that’s a lot of money to spend on such an ugly car.
11. eos: also too much money for a vw. also ugly, also too slow.
12. sebring: i’d always have a feeling that i left my kids at the last reststop.
and the winner is…
mustang gt: white exterior, 18-inch, 5-spoke chrome wheels, tan & black interior, including tan interior doors with charcoal inserts, black convertible top & 300 ponies under the hood. gas mileage should be a little worse than the t-bird but driving a lot more fun. the bird averages 19 mpg with my lead foot. the pony might get 15 city. low 20s highway.
the beemer would maybe better by 7 mpg but the cost difference will buy a lot of feed for the pony. even the mini surprisingly does not have great mileage. i decided against the $2k navigation. my cell phone has gps for $10/month so the savings will buy lots of air time. will consider an after market nav system.
it’s a pretty pony. a horse of a different color. mostly car interior & tops match but i like neither tan tops nor black interiors. sales person said what i wanted would look choppy but they found one in jacksonville (the only one they could find in southeast u.s.a.) & shipped it down. the car came in on saturday and my color scheme looks as great as i thought it would because it’s the same colors i used for my kitchen.
the car priced $432 under what i would have paid.
msrp $33,480 not including wheels
here’s how i figured what i would have paid:
31,168 invoice
500 dealer profit
160 ship from jax
1,549 wheels
250 tag/registration
8 battery/tire enviro fee
599 documentation fee (dealer fee charged every customer)
2,020 sales tax (approx)
(1,995) rebates
34,359 (what i thought i was going to pay)
33,927 my bill including all options, fees & tax ($5,000 deposit on double points earning credit card).
what edmunds says i should have paid (including tax): $34,417. however, while edmunds caught the $1,000 rebate, they missed an additional $995. with the added rebate their quote might have come in a tad lower than what i paid but i’m not sure how to figure tax on rebate. my auto industry friend says to trust the dealer in figuring tax because they would not take a chance on getting caught in an audit. i asked my friend what extra gimme should i request to close the deal. my friend suggested i ask for yellow paint.
while i’m comfortable that i got at least a good enough deal, and confident i didn’t get totally screwed, i’m so glad i don’t have to do this every day. i think that would force me into early retirement.
they’re shoeing the pony today and grooming for show. will post pics on delivery.
edit: added pics
