November 26, 2005
New Car
If you are a regular reader of my irregular postings, you know that back in July I had to turn in my BMW since my lease was up. I loved that car. Having no car, I was in a bit of a pickle, but my brother-in-law Tony came through and let me drive his car for a few months until I found something. So for 5 months I had the opportunity to drive this.
It is a 1999 Corvette. Starting at the age of 14 I worked after school for 2 years in an illegal Volkswagen repair shop. It was illegal, because it was run out of a neighbors 3 car garage in the back of his house in our neighborhood. I started by sweeping the floors, and by the time I left, I was pretty good at doing body work, painting, and rebuilding engines. The owner of the shop owned a white Corvette and I loved that car. I knew back then, that at some point in my life I would own one. So, when the opportunity came to drive Tony's for a few months I jumped at the chance. Overall, the experience was a bit of a disappointment. It was a classic case of the hype not meeting the expectations. The car was very fast, but the ride, handling, and fit and finish of the interior was not at all what I expected. It is probably not fair to compare a 1999 Corvette to a 2002 BMW, but the BMW has set the benchmark, and unfortunately for all other cars that mark is pretty high.
So, I needed to obtain a new car. I had gone to the New York Auto show last year with my friend Brian and during that show fell in love with the Lexus IS350 prototype they had on display. I began following the car on Lexus' web site, and in the magazines. In September, Debbie and I went to a Lexus event at Belmont raceway, and we got to test drive one of the only six IS350's in the country. They had a metallic red one there, and everyone, including me, was blown away by the car. We ordered one that day, and 3 weeks ago we took delivery.
I won't bore you with the details about the car. If you care you can go the Lexus web site. I have had the car 3 weeks today, and have formed some opinions. First, I love the looks. The car is beautiful inside and out. The materials inside are first rate. The seats are very comfortable. The ride is very smooth, but not artificial. You have a nice sense of the road, but the suspension does a good job of masking every little bump. I am sure purists would not like this, but I have no issues. The car has a ton of power, but I find that the transmission is sometimes making strange gear choices. Since no manual was available, I had no choice but to take the 6 speed automatic. For some reason the transmission takes forever to go from 5th to 6th. Not that 5th is winding out. It is like the car has settled into cruise, and then after a few minutes realizes there is one more gear, and then shifts to 6th. I find it annoying.
However the transmission is the least annoying. The navigation/handsfree/audio/climate control system has the absolute worst user interface that I have ever experienced in my life. Wanna use the navigation system, good luck. It takes me at least 3 tries before I enter the correct sequence of buttons. Lets assume you get it going, and then you want to cancel the navigation. Logic would dictate that you would press the large OFF button at the bottom of the screen, right? Wrong. You have to press the menu button, and then “cancel navigation”. I have that part figured out, if only I could figure out an easy way to start the guidance.
How about the telephone. I paired the phone with the car, but God help me if I can figure out how to make a phone call using the handsfree system. it has actually become a running joke between me and Deb. On top of that, unless you are paying careful attention when you start the car, you have no way to know the phone is connected. When the car first starts the screen flashes that the bluetooth connection was successful. If you are not paying attention, to bad. Debbie has an Acura TL, with no navigation, but it does have handsfree. I figured it out in 5 minutes, and the best part is the telephone icon on the radio when you have a successful bluetooth connection. The buttons and commands are all logically laid out, and I never make a mistake using it.
Climate control. Well, the AC light is always on. You set the system to AUTO, and then set the temp. Fairly straight forward. But why is the AC light always on? It just does not make sense.
Audio system. Well no satellite radio, and I am hating that, but it does have a line in jack buried in the arm rest, so I can plug in my ipod, but can't control it. The stereo sounds fine, and it is pretty straight forward, No surprises.
So overall, how do I feel. Well, in a word disappointed. I honestly feel that I could not recommend the car. Instead of leasing, we decided to buy this car, so I am not locked in. If I am still having issues in the spring, I might take the loss and trade the car in...for a BMW.
Posted by pmadsen at 09:41 PM
July 15, 2005
Bike For Sale
I am selling my motorcycle on ebay. If you are interested, check it out.
Posted by pmadsen at 03:39 PM | Comments (1)
July 13, 2005
Good Bye Old Friend
I love cars, I mean I LOVE CARS. Fast cars, slow cars, old cars, new cars, it doesn't matter. I have become a car (and race) junky. I have owned a lot of cars in my life. Most of them where pretty crappy. My first new car was a 1984 Dodge Charger - what a piece of junk. My next new car was a 1990 Honda Accord. I loved that car. It was classy, with a great ride. I thought it looked cool, and with the exception of few electrical glitches early on caused by dealer installed parts, the car was trouble free. In fact, that Honda, kicked off a long line of Honda cars owned by me and my wife - we had a CRX (great), a Civic (killed in a wreck), and an Accord (still being loved by my brother-in-law). For some crazy reason we left the Honda family and bought a Jetta. Brain cramp I guess, it was a real piece of crap. Today, we are back in the Honda family, thoroughly enjoying a 2004 Acura TL.
But, all those cars where driven by my wife. I sold my Accord, in order to buy my house (yes money was that tight). My parents gave me a crappy Chevy with a stuck drivers door, but beggars can't be choosers, and for two years I would get in on the passenger side, and slide across the vinyl bench seat (not always the easiest thing to do in the middle of the summer) and drive. The car held up pretty good for a while, before finally dying. I was stuck with no car and no money, so I picked a 1979 Ford station wagon for $400. This thing was a tank. It rolled around so much, that I actually got pulled over one night for drunk driving. I explained to the officer that it was the car and not me, and he let me go.
After that car exploded in the hands of a friend, I bought my next new car - a Ford Ranger pickup with a 5 speed manual, and 4 cylinder engine. It cost me 18 grand, and I was over budget by $1,000. It was a great truck, and for 3 years a great station car, but once I started working at Estee Lauder (a 45 minute to 1 hour commute), driving the truck in a suit and tie was a little uncomfortable. So, I ventured into the world of leasing, and got my next car. A Buick. That is all I have to say about that.
Three and a half years ago the lease was coming up on the Buick, and I decided I was going to get a real car. I mean a REAL car. I spent a lot of time researching, and I came to the conclusion there was only one car that would give me everything I wanted. A BMW 330CI. It was cool, drove like a dream, and got nothing but fantastic reviews. In fact; I dare anyone to find a single disparaging remark published by any legitimate source about the 3 series BMW. I ordered the car from Habberstad BMW in Huntington, and for the next 2 months me and my pal Brian would follow the progress of my car on the BMW website. From assembly to shipping to delivery, we followed that car, and 3 years ago today I picked that car up.
It was love at first site. The car was Topaz Blue Metallic, with premium, cold weather, and sports packages. A black leather interior with aluminum trim, a 5 speed of course, navigation system, and 6 CD changer rounded out the options. It had massive tires and brakes. I remember being in the paddock at Limerock Race Track, and having guys come up to me to compliment the car, and ask various questions about tires, and brakes and performance. I was in my glory. It seemed like all my friends wanted a ride. Even my Dad asked me for a ride (and he is not a car guy at all). Debbie and I took the car on long trips, and marveled at the accuracy of the navigation system, while cursing the user interface at the same time. Was the car perfect, no, not really. Okay, who am I kidding, yes it was. I loved that car. With the exception of the tires complete inability to get any grip in the snow, it was perfect. But, like all good things, the love affair was doomed to end. The lease ended today, and so did the affair. I have just come back from turning the car in, and I miss it already. I considered buying it, but it was out of warranty, and the 3 years of free service was also over. I could have re-leased it, but it just wasn't financially the right thing to do. With the depreciation increase, my payment would have actually gone up almost $40 a month. After a lot of thought, I made the difficult decision to give the car up. Even as I was driving to the dealer this afternoon, I was still considering buying it, but in the end, I turned over the keys, and gave the car one last glance as I left the parking lot. So, I say good bye old friend. I will miss you. You served me well for 3 years and 30,000 miles. I hope your next owner enjoys driving you as much as I did.
Interestingly enough, as much as I loved the car, this is the only photo I could find.
Posted by pmadsen at 06:13 PM
