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May 5, 2006
Pondering a Car Purchase
I've wanted a convertible for a long time, and until recently I've been fixated on a roadster, but Dawnise correctly pointed out that having a two-seater isn't exactly practical as our only car.
So I started looking at convertible sedans. There's the Chrystler Sebring - which Consumer Reports basically hated, the Toyota Solara - which Consumer Reports liked but, as our neighbor Toki put it, looks like "like you're driving a shoe", the Audi A4, something from Mercedes (I'm not a MB fan), the Saab 9-3, and the BMW 3-series.
All of the viable options (Audi, BMW, Saab) are waaayy to costly to consider new (a $50k+ car is right out of the question, thank-you-very-much), so I started looking at their certified-used programs. I ended up hooking up with Adam Newbold over at BMW of Seattle, who continues to impress me with his candor, willingness to look for what I want - rather than just try to move his own inventory - and his charming British accent ;)
The other day he called to let me know they were getting an '03 330cic, in topaz blue, with grey leather. About 40k miles, "loaded" - he wasn't sure what the final price would be, but his manager had verbally indicated it would likely be in our range, assuming it didn't need heavy reconditioning.
I went over yesterday afternoon and test drove the car, and it's quite nice. They weren't done certifying it yet, but had just fitted new tires and at least vacuumed it out. We took it on a short loop, up the traffic-laden 5, over on 520, and up the back side of Capital Hill (which was absolutely beautiful). It's a nice car to drive, esp. with the top down in beautiful weather.
We got back to the dealer and ran some numbers - and it ended up, out the door, being about $3k more than I was hoping to spend. So now I'm trying to figure out the incremental utility of that $3k. In other words, what would I have to lose from this car to get the price down by $3k? If the answer is options like Xenon headlights and the parking indicator system (both of which this car has and I don't care about), then we probably wait.
Posted by dberger at May 5, 2006 7:04 AM
Comments
yo danno...
what's your price range range are you talking? that's a nice car, which will hold it's value.
i'm interested to know what you decide - wendy and i moved to a new house near the top of topanga, so i have a 15 mile commute (canyon and ocean).
the GS is great most of the time, but my lumbering old SUV is a real dog (and at $50 a tank, not really practical)
gg
Posted by: grant at May 5, 2006 11:13 AM