New Car
Posted By matt on October 28, 2004
Was feeling well enough that I went to the dealership. We took the TDI Golf for a test drive. Much tighter than the Jetta (or at least, the '05 Golf is tighter than the '04 Jetta). Final price was $20,700, including the mud flaps. Okay, okay, I know I said I wouldn't budge on the $20,500 price, but, in my opinion, the little extras in the GLS were worth it, after driving it and playing with them. Of course, there was a bit of drama. I'm haggling with the salesman, he has to go ask the manager, and the manager yells at him for like 10 minutes about how she can't do that price, she's going to lose her job, etc., and then he comes back and does that price. Whatever.
Fun bits and bobs that make the $1700 over the GL price worth it:
- Monsoon sound system: The speakers are nice and punchy, with decent bass response. 5 band EQ. CD player and Cassette deck. The thing even has an LCD display in it for the stereo. Apparently there's an amp hidden somewhere in the car too.
- Sunroof. Meh. I can take it or leave it.
- Alloy wheels: Considering I was probably going to spend $1000 or so on new wheels, and now I'm not, that alone eats up most of the extra
- Cold weather package: Heated seats + windshield washer nozzles – Oh, my God the heated seats are nice! Plus, after skiing, or being out in the cold, they'll probably be worth it. That and the fact that the diesel doesn't heat up as fast as a gas car (because the engine runs a lot cooler), will probably make them very nice in the winter (especially once the company moves and we start commuting to Warwick). And the heated nozzles means no more iced over washer nozzles! Woot!
So, anyway, I'll take delivery of it Saturday afternoon, unless they don't approve me for financing for some reason. However, I'm all preapproved by VWofA in their 'Tier A' classification (whatever that means), so I doubt there will be an issue. Heck, I've worked at the same job since I got out of college, I make a decent living, and I no longer have any outstanding debt. Stability, earning potential, and good income to debt ratio, what more do they want? So, I'm not really all that worried.
Oh, and this Blue Anthracite is also known as Grey. It's just a nice, neutral, kind of gunmetal grey. Black interior. Nothing flashy, just a nice, solid, understated color. I like it as much as the blue. Maybe a little more.
With the car out of the way, I can go get the Chrysler fixed. I need to call the mechanic tomorrow and see if I can get the car in on monday. With the heater turned off, the thing didn't sieze up. I don't know if it means anything or is just coincidental. Of course, the problem might have had more to do with the cold, in which case the mechanic is probably going to have to keep it until it's cold and they can make it do it. Dunno. Don't care much, either. It also needs to go in for factory safety recall. Apparently there's some flaw in the shifter for the automatic transmission, where you can shift it out of park without pressing the button. So, they have to take a look at it and fix it. All free, of course. But, I need to do all this before I can sell it in good conscience.
This has been a very surreal week. Two days up at the client site. Two days sick. Old car being sick. Buying a new car. Liz bringing our housemate to the airport at 4:30 this morning so that she (the housemate) can fly out to 'Frisco for a conference. It'll be nice when things settle out into normal, boring humdrum again.
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