Rookie ramblings from happy new owner

The proverbial 1st post. First, thanks for all the info--I probably would not have purchased without reading all the good stuff on here.

(Begin rookie ramblings...

Bought my '06 #6 last weekend and drove it across the Golden Gate Bridge 99 miles to my house: 52.0 MPG. Just filled up the tank for the first time. I was averaging 50-52 MPG all week and was crushed when it plummeted to 49.2 at fill-up time. (Please don't give me the boot yet--it was only my 1st tank!)

One tip for those on a wait list: I was on one when my local dealer called to offer me a car; it was my 3rd choice color, so on a hunch I decided to hunt around for another color before accepting delivery. Called a FOAF at Toyota fleet. As chance would have it, it was Allocation Day. He kindly told me all the green ones delivered in California that day (3 of them in all). I called all 3 dealers, told them I had money in hand and an offer of a car, but I preferred the one they had if they'd sell it to me. The drill was always the same: "What's your number? I'll call you back."

Within 2 hours I was offered 3 cars to buy! None were my first choice (green #6), but one was a blue #6 (okay, seaside pearl) and that's the one I own. I got 2 more calls this week. 5 opportunities to buy--so much for waiting lists! I'm guessing they called whoever was first, got a "no" or no answer and then offered the cars to me after some arbitrary interval (maybe ~1 hour). I suppose this might explain why we all have to wait so long--it's not as straightforward as we're lead to believe.

Now I'm doing the "to tint or not to tint" and "to protect or not to protect" hang wringing. I guess I'll read opinions about that here. My trusted mechanic says the overcoat is just a wax job and you can spray the "scotch guard" yourself just as ably. <wringing of hands>

Wish I could find one of those transparent bra applique thingies somewhere nearby (Santa Cruz, CA). No one seems to know about it. <wringing of hands>

More rambling: for those who do not have nav or blue tooth and want them, my girlfriend just put a Parrot CK3100 bluetooth system in her Civic. Comes with a small LCD display and it works just fine with her Treo ($160 parts, about the same for labor). But if you want to splurge, check out the new Pioneer nav/bluetooth unit. $1600 parts at our local, high-priced installer. Not sure where you'd put the video unit, but it seems very high quality.

(If anyone wants to recommend a semi-portable nav, that would be great. I've been trying the Magellan 360, but it's _so_ slow to acquire a signal I can't stand it. I want to take it on biz travel when I rent a car, hence the semi-portable; I would love rechargeable, battery-operated so I can enter destinations from my hotel room instead of having to wait until I'm already in the car and, uh, less patient. Note: we tried the Tom Tom on her Treo 650, but it kept crashing & we gave up.)

...end rookie ramblings.)

-Gary

P.S. I _love_ my car
P.P.S. Anyone recommend a good "waste basket" solution and location?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darwin100 @ Apr 29 2006, 08:10 PM) [snapback]247408[/snapback]</div>

thanks for the welcome (and to Huskers too). Try calling Darrell at Bay Federal Credit Union (www.bayfed.org). He works with someone regularly and said he can get a discount. IIRC it's ~$110 for the rear 3 windows.