brand spankin' new blue one

So I took my 2004 325xi (75k+ miles) for an oil change a the other day. I was always nervous every 5000 miles with the ol' Beamer... mostly because an oil change would be accompanied by $1000+ of other "routine maintainence". I was definitely putting this guy's kids through college...

"You're going to need two new front tires to pass inspection."
"That shimmy is caused by a broken caliper. Oh, and let's not forget that new rotor. And brake pads!"
"<unintelligible auto speak> seals <more auto speak> gaskets <more> bushings!"
"You're going to need two new front tires to pass inspection." (me: "What, again?" him: "Well, I moved the old tires to the back." me: "Um, oh... do you take Discover?")

I guess his kid decided to go to grad school at this point, since on top of the $125 oil change, he was trying to sell me something called "Inspection 2". I wasn't clear what this was, since mechanics usually look for things wrong with the car as a matter of course, but hey, textbooks are expensive. And let's not mention the other "routine" things he was planning to inflict on my car for November.... some sort of sealing gasket bush that, if not replaced, would eventually cause my engine to fall out or explode or possibly both. Funny Germans.

So I told him I'd get back to him on that. Pulled out of his lot straight to the Toyota dealership down the road. A little twitching, some chain smoking, and a bunch of phone calls to my bookie and a few hours later, I drove off the lot with an impulse-purchased 2007 Prius, package #6. Fully loaded, gassed up. And blue.

So that was two weeks ago, and I have to say this is the car I should have bought years ago. Sure, it doesn't accelerate, handle, or haul down the highway nearly as well as the Barvarian Barbarian. And maybe it looks a little than a flying saucer than your average Republican may be comfortable with. But it has computers! Lots of them! Watching that little energy computer gizmo is going to get me into an accident. It's almost like a video game, and I picture getting those little arrows to point the right way will save some obscure endangered species of three-toed Brazilian shrub rat. It's almost.... karmic.

And there are a few options there that were expensive and high-end on the BMW that wind up on this car. Bluetooth is great for anyone that's tried to return a beeper call with a cellphone at 70 mph on the highway. That pushbutton start/startkey business was a disgustingly expensive, mostly pointless option on a BMW. On a Prius, it's practically standard. And the nav works better the little Garmin unit I was using before. (Apparently, the iDrive/nav option in the BMW is crap, so I didn't bother.)

And what about gas mileage? Prius owners never want to talk about gas mileage, do they? I had to fill the Beamer up every 3-4 days with oak-cask-aged premium...$45 a tank, which was roughly $250/month. (20-21 mpg) In two weeks, I've gassed up twice with plebian regular ("The Fuel Of The Masses"). I get 45-48mpg, and at this rate, with a 30 min mixed commute in the morning and various driving during the day, I'll finish up the month under $100.

And if that wasn't enough, not only do I get a $730 federal tax credit just for buying the thing but the state sends me a check for $500. It's like George W. and Eddie Rendell both remembered my birthday and kicked in for ice cream cake.

Oh, and the dealer threw in a bunch of free oil changes. Suh-weet!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome... and the quick replies! Evidence we all need some fresh air. I mostly need an outlet to express how much I enjoy this car.... The girlfriend is getting sick of hearing me talk about it. (She drives a Honda Fit, which we all know is such a gas guzzler.)

I was under the impression that German cars were supposed to be just as reliable as Japanese sedans, but apparently I just made this up to reassure myself that dropping money on a used Bimmer was a good idea. (I didn't mention that I bought that hunk of Teutonic junk in April 2006 with 49k on it. "Oh, but German cars will last forever!" my conscience told me. "It's totally worth it!" my conscience said. Going back, I realize the papers are all dated "April 1st, 2006" and my conscience is a notorious joker.)

And I've heard rumors about VW and their "longevity" so I'm not much tempted... In fact, I also just found out that VW owns a sizeable chunk of Porsche and share certain aspects of their designs. This collabrative brain trust can be thanked for the creation of the Toureg and the Cayenne... both are well known for being incredibly reliable and dependable. Unless you actually try to drive one, that is, in which case you risk immediate and catastrophic engine failure.

Before that car, I drove a 2000 Saturn SL1. Within 50,000 miles, I had somehow blown one of the cylinders. Because of this, it sputtered when I hit the gas while the tach shook harder than Michael J. Fox when I idled. Three trips to Mieneke (and $1500. George Foreman knows grills, but jack s**t about cars) didn't seem to fix the problem for more than 10 minutes at a time, so off I went to upgrade.

So now I'm soured on American cars and I'm soured on German cars. I'm running out of continents to purchase automobiles from until they start building cars in Antartica.

And honestly, it's pathetic that we have to import this kind of engineering from Japan. We should have come up with this first. It should have been ours. With oil around $75 a barrell and the US being the biggest consumer of oil on the planet, you think someone in Michigan would have had the bright idea to maybe bring back a redesigned Geo Metro or something.

Question = When gas prices reach all time highs, how should we react:

Japan: "Make smaller cars that use less gas!"
US: "Government invade oil producing countries while Detroit lobbies government not to increase efficiency standards."
Germany: "Invade Belgium." (To be fair, that's their answer to a lot of things.)


As for modifying this thing, I'm not sure what I can do to it without breaking it or making it spontaneously combust or something. Maybe some racing stripes? If only for ironic implication that I can race someone in this thing. Or maybe a bumper sticker that says "Suck my carbon footprint, bitches!"

And for that last little comment, how dare anyone insinuate that I'm a Republican! I'm an (un)registered independent, thank you very much, and if I hear that again, I am sooooo typing your address into my sweet nav system and tracking you down, each step being read to me in a pleasant female bringing you closer to doom! Muahaha!