And sorry I didn't post this and no pictures (yet), but I bought a new car last weekend (er.. actually two weeks ago on Saturday). and this car is no other than the "all new" 2008 Saturn Astra. Yup, I guess you can say I am a Saturn fanboy to an extent.. but really, I was set on buying a Honda Fit, tried it and didn't like.
The Honda Fit, for what it is, is really a nice car. The "Magic
Seats(tm)" really worked in all their hype very well. And the interior
(I was going for the sports version) is not bad at all. Kudos to Honda
there.
But....
- I felt a bit "cramped" in there. Leg space seemed a notch worse than
my previous SL2, and one thing I was looking for in my next "10 years
car" as I don't swap cars like many (most?) do, is being comfortable..
and the Fit didn't quite pass that. Then as I was going to the highway
I felt the need to floor it to get on the ramp with speed.. and the
noise inside the cabin started to make me think again and again.
So the dealer at that point decided to show me the Honda Civic 2008. UGH.
- The emergency brake in the park position was rubbing- er.. no-
*sticking* into my right leg. And when driving it it was still touching
my leg. How could Honda of all companies miss this little detail was
like to me.. just mind blowing. It's like designing a relatively nice
car but forgetting to add a turning signal light or such basic thing.
Also the seats int he back would come down but it was "all or nothing."
I discovered that only the high-end Civic trim had the 40/60 seat
split. What's up with that? Feels like a gross attempt at make you
upgrade.
The dash as many reviews have criticized looked cheap and hard to read.
All in all I HATED the 2008 Civic and I made a firm decision I would
definitively NOT buy it. I am sure other Civic's design have been fine,
which is why I was a bit baffled.
So then I tried a 2007 red Honda Accord.. now we are talking, car felt
nice.. but um mas red and there was just a something... but still a
nice car.
So decided as I mentioned earlier to check the Astra.. and checked it
once, then later on went on another day to try the Mazda 3, at the
insistence of a friend. I tried the Mazda 3 low end and the Grand
Touring high end (this is not to be confused with the Mazda 3 speed
which is altogether in another category).
The Mazda 3 is a nice car. And you get a lot for the money it seems. On
the Grand Touring you have stuff like climate control amongst other
things.. and a higher HP engine.
I tried both and while I could tell the high end Mazda 3 had a bit more
"omph" in the engine than the Astra, it wasn't really a big difference
to me. The low end seemed about the same quite frankly. I didn't feel
the "zoom zoom." And there was just a "something" that bugged me about
the Mazda.. even with all the bell and whistles. .maybe it looked like
*too many* bell and whistles in a "shiny, here here I exist and I am
here" way.
So decided against the Mazda and went for the Astra.
I was going to mention that my worries about the Astra horse powerage
disappeared when I tested it and discovered that when flooring it if
you need to, there's a last "snap" on the pedal that makes it down ****
and then it kicks in strong (similar to setting the SL2 to
'performance' and flooring it). Still, I haven't felt the need to floor
my car in actual driving/going on ramps at all.. it has more than
adequate power.. though corvette/redline enthusiasts will probably
laugh at me :-)
All in all I am very happy with it. Actually, scratch that, I am UBER happy with it. Something Ithought wouldn't happen, the complete inverse of buyer's remorse- I love this car. My only pet peeve so far is the
lack of an AUX, a situation now exacerbated by the call my dealer gave
me today telling me they can't put in the promised iPod nano upgrade,
because the computer system is too new and connected in ways that are
not easy to re-code or such.
I have the option of swapping it for a new Astra XR trim with the CD player with
mp3 capability.. but I think I will keep my car and look for the best
iPod FM tuner I can get. I just bought one today (the DLO tunestick or
such) but I am not satisfied with the capability (or lack of)
overpowering an FM station.
The dealer is offering me to refund up to $200 USD of such expense.
I think I am keeping my XE and not trade for an XR with 6-cd's because
of what a friend of mine wisely pointed out- that the interface to 6
cd's full of mp3's must be a nightmare. Still I wish I could connect my
iPod....
Update: It's looking more and more likely I may very well swap for the XR trim. It's fine either way. I love this car. Oh, did I mention the SUPER HUGE moon roof it has? All the way to the back seats... and the driving experience is just superb. At least two reviews have compared the "door close feel" to a a mid range $50k Mercedez. I don't have that level of sensibility, but i can tell it "feels better."
PS: I forgot to say when I turned in my 160k miles 11 years and 3 months old SL2, when moving the stuff from that car to the new, I cried. Didn't expect it, it just simply happened. Now, I am not one in general to be attached to material things- but it's the anchor in the memories of my brain that this car represented... since I have seen oh so much in it, and it never left me on the road... but it's all good. I bought a Saturn so my SL2's soul could properly re-incarnate in the new body :-P
PSS: Turns out that *maybe* I could be *the very first* whole USA owner of an Astra. I really don't care for the "celebrity status" this would entail (though GM, if you are reading this, you are more than free to contact me about it :-P), but I was just a bit surprised at the "coincidence" of it.
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