Buying A New Car

Quote for the Week

"No other man-made device since the shields and lances of the ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile." This quotation is attributed to Sir William.

My efforts to ascertain which Sir William were fruitless. However, what this unidentified Sir William said was astute and profound - and completely reflective of male human nature.

Men And Their Toys

I say this with great certainty. Men just adore cars, especially my man. I've been accompanying him to car dealerships several times during the past few months. We've looked at the current crop of new cars, SUVs, and trucks. My husband would buy one of each, but the reason I go with him is that I'm the brakes on his car lust.

One of his heartfelt desires is to have a 12 car garage that he could then fill with sweet rides. Never going to happen, but that doesn't stop him from wishing he had one. Or maybe an aircraft hanger because he could get more cars in it. So, his idea of fun is to drive whatever hot set of wheels premieres each year.

Each Year's Sweet Ride

I guess 2009 was the year of the Camaro. We looked over a dozen of them and drove a few this past week. V6 Rally Sport or V8 Super Sport, they're all hot, or cool, whichever adjective you prefer. We both loved the Cyber Gray, a kind of metallic gray with an iridescent blue/green fleck.

The Camaro is a car built for a single or a couple, not people with kids and things to haul. We already have a car in that category. Our T-Bird stays parked in the garage most of the time. I'm quite certain we don't need a Camaro parked next to it.

Reality Intrudes

In actuality, we needed something to replace our 11 year old 4-wheel drive Tahoe, Big Jack, that gets about 15 mpg or less. So, yesterday we took Big Jack to the GM dealership in North Houston, played Taps, and left old, dependable Big Jack there as we drove home in a new Cyber Gray vehicle.

Was it that Chevy Camaro I described?

No, it was the 2010 hot set of wheels, a GMC Terrain. Nice, comfortable vehicle with plenty of bells and whistles, including an iPod sync. Cool. Best of all, it's supposed to get 32 mpg on the highway.

My husband picked it out after two weeks of intensive Internet shopping a dozen dealerships. It has everything he wanted. Yet, I know there's a part of him that wishes that Camaro was parked out in the garage instead.

Takeaway Truth

I'll close these musings by stating the ultimate truth about buying a new car. Quoting Grey Livingston, another person to whom quotations are attributed on the web but who cannot be easily researched using Internet resources: "Driving a brand new car feels like driving around in an open billfold with the dollars flapping by your ears as they fly out the window."