Another Milestone- first brand new car!

[pomba gira]

So OK, I'm maybe a little more stoked about this than I should be... but truth is, at age 46 this is my very first New car purchase... I figure the two Estranged Hubby Rick bought while we were together don't really count since I wasn't involved in either purchase (except for having a stepbrother who was sales manager at the dealership). So I feel like it's kind of a rite of passage as well as just, well, groovy! My spiffy new '08 Kia Sportage (in stylish gothic black) is supposed to save me $100/month on gas over my old Explorer White Grrl. Happy happy joy joy! Pics coming soon, maybe we'll do some Whitesnake style next time we're at Cherry Lane haha.

Props to Young Kia/Hyundai/Nissan of Lansing who treated me righteously. I heard their radio spot for a no-credit check promotion and figured what the hell... went there and was helped by a very professional and handsome (if a bit opinionated and long-winded) young sales dude who really went above & beyond to get me a decent deal despite my shaky credit rating. I highly recommend this outfit to anyone in the area who's in the market for a new vehicle.

[Destroit]

Damn...now you make me feel bad because I'm already on my second new car...

Feels good, doesn't it? Glad you finally got one of your own!

[Rev.Reverence]

Congratulations deary!!!

[Fin]

Sweet! Gothic black ROCKS.

This brings up a point I have been writing the U.S. auto makers about. One of the reasons you cited as buying the Kia was its superior gas mileage. Time & again the U.S. auto makers simply respond to criticism of their MPG standards "we're just giving the people what they want." They continue to spend millions & millions of dollars on fighting lawsuits to keep MPG standards LOW.

This seems idiotic to me when the public at large would much rather have high-quality, high MPG autos to drive.

Can anyone explain this to me? Sorry--sore spot.

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

OH YAY!!!GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEW Kia, I hope it brings you many great en devours on the road. Alaska just bought a used Kia Sportage and he loves it.

[Miranda]

Congratulations on the new vehicle Pomba. Have fun with it.

[Jordan]

congrats!

[JaneDead]

awesome! congrats to you pomba.

[damagedangel]

Congrats Pomba! I love my 07 Kia Spectra, best car I've had so far!

[Head Wreck]

hmmmmm new car smell

[Onyx]

I have to say I love my Kia. Can't beat the warranty and since I bought it new in 2000 it has NEVER left me stranded. I can't say that about any other car I've owned.

Congratulations! It's a great sense of freedom to have a reliable car in good condition

[Rayne]

Props to Young Kia/Hyundai/Nissan of Lansing who treated me righteously. I heard their radio spot for a no-credit check promotion and figured what the hell... went there and was helped by a very professional and handsome (if a bit opinionated and long-winded) young sales dude who really went above & beyond to get me a decent deal despite my shaky credit rating. I highly recommend this outfit to anyone in the area who's in the market for a new vehicle.

I've had work done there before. They are awesome.

And CONGRATS on the new vehicle Pomba!!

(and Cher, at 28, I'm on my 4th brand new car -- don't feel bad).

[Msterbeau]

I've heard about that sales guy. Kinda pushy... but cute, so I let it go.

Congrats lady!!

[Homicidalheathen]

Congrats and VAroom!

[the eternal]

Damn...now you make me feel bad because I'm already on my second new car...

Feels good, doesn't it? Glad you finally got one of your own!

Someone shoot her now! You talk about poverty and you have two new cars? Where is the mountain you're hiding. I'm comin' over and finding it

Sweet! Gothic black ROCKS.

This brings up a point I have been writing the U.S. auto makers about. One of the reasons you cited as buying the Kia was its superior gas mileage. Time & again the U.S. auto makers simply respond to criticism of their MPG standards "we're just giving the people what they want." They continue to spend millions & millions of dollars on fighting lawsuits to keep MPG standards LOW.

This seems idiotic to me when the public at large would much rather have high-quality, high MPG autos to drive.

Can anyone explain this to me? Sorry--sore spot.

Oh boy, where do I begin. I know I'm known for my brevity, so I'll try to keep it to my usual short length.

The Big 3 KNOW they're in trouble, and they're working on it. Here's the thing--we DO want big gas guzzlers, we just can't afford them anymore.

Let me explain:

In the past things have gone up and down, like a roller coaster at Cedar Point.

When things went up in the 70s everyone bought little Toyotas, but then they went down, and people went back to SUVs.

This is the first time that things are NEVER going back down, not to what it was like before.

People are very shortsighted and have very short memories.

Democrats piss people off, we elect a republican. Everyone's mad at the GOP, we elect a Democrat.

Cars are the same way.

When prices go down, the demand for bigger cars go right back up.

We like to travel.

We have lots of stuff.

We even demand big ugly cars that you can pop a tent in to travel with our stuff.

BUT NOW, gas prices will be high for a long time, and so for the first time in atleast 30 years, the auto industry has to do a complete overhaul.

AND THEY ARE

But it's going to take awhile.

Toyota is WAYYY ahead of them.

Now Kia/Hyundai are putting out great cars for $5 grand less than those Toyotas.

AND, to compound the problem for the big three, there's a perception that American cars are pieces of shit.

Every year the quality gets better.

American cars are pretty damn good now.

GM even puts 100k mile warranty on their cars now, but it's hard to change people's mind.

Granted that's only powertrain, BUT IT'S A START

AND it's hard to have a complete paradigm shift

The imports aren't.

In some ways, they fell into this.

_____________________________________________________

Kia's bread and butter cars are small.

SO are Honda's

SO are Toyota's

BUT, Every jackass that ever wanted a truck wanted an F-150.

The Cadillac sedan with it's V8 Northstar engine, set the standard for luxury.

They have always made their money off trucks and SUVs, and even though much fewer are being sold,

unlike SUVs, there are certain people that will ALWAYS need a truck.

There may be a lot less F-150 going out showrooms but they're still beating the pants off the Toyota Tundra.

And so the Big 3 are fighting the MPG standards, because they're scared shitless they can't get their trucks to that standard quick enough. (Most of the cars, like the Cobalt and the Focus are already there)

So, it's going to be a tough change, and it won't happen overnight.

And, it's especially hard, I think, for Chrysler who does over 2/3 of their business in vans and SUVs, and who even makes their cars look like they're out of some 50's Muscle car racing movie.

I PRESENT YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN---EXHIBIT A

But, slowly, since everything in the big 3 goes slowly, things will change.

The Ford Edge, a small crossover, and the Focus, a subcompact, are exceeding expectations.

The new Malibu is sweet, and is wowing critics and customers alike.

But unfortunately, it'll be years before the Big 3 catches up to the imports in the minds of the consumer.

You tell me, would you have piece of mind filling up a Chrysler boat with the new $2.99 pricing

when you're only getting 15 miles/gallon on a vehicle that has questionable reliability?

The fact that upstarts like Kia and Hyundai, which made pieces of tin just 10 years ago, are now putting out such a good product backed by a 5yr 60k mile bumper-bumper warranty certainly isn't helping any.

I have hope, though.

My .02

PS Here's a bad stock photo of Pomba's new car

[TygerLili]

Congrats! I got my first new car a year ago and I love it. It's awesome not having to spend $500+ every other month for repairs.

And yeah, better price, better warranty, better mpg; I doubt I'll ever own another American car again.

[tanuki1985]

I have never had a new car. :(

And pomba, I feel the pain of having to put gas in an Explorer. Ugghh. Good luck with your new car!

[Msterbeau]

It occurs to me to ask when you and your man will be breaking it in?

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

*does a happy dance*

[pomba gira]

It occurs to me to ask when you and your man will be breaking it in?

Hmm, prolly next time we go to Cherry Lane... altho I can see some logistics issues, Tokagemaru is 6'2" and, well, it IS a "sport cute"... ai well, where there's a will there's a way and we are nothing if not resourceful souls!