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New ride
11 years ago
General
So I did something impulsive today. Because I needed something positive from an otherwise shitty week.
Well I wouldn't say its totally impulse. Its something I have been considering for a few months now and something I knew I would have to face in a year or two from now anyways... I've just expidited the process a little so that I could stop borrowing my parents vehicles whenever I wanted to go on a long road trip with friends or take the boat out >.>
Tonight I traded my 2010 Hyundai Elantra in for a new 2013 Ford Edge. Yeah I guess I went from Ford to Hyundai back to Ford again. When I orignally set out I wanted a Santa Fe.
Only to find out that the only NEW Santa Fes in my budget only have a wimpy 4 cyl engine. Fine I guess for most but for someone hauling a boat... not exactly going to fly. Plus after finding out how sluggish the V6 version felt... yeah...
So I started to look for the more expensive Santa Fe's used. This was a challenge. Most people who buy these practically drive them into the ground before they trade them in. I guess I was one of them >.>
I found one that fit the bill. It was an older model (2011) but had really low miles on it. I was bored at work so I fiddled around with options for something new in my price range. I came up with the Dodge Journey- which I sat in at the Minneapolis Auto show and HATED (very cramped cabin. For a big guy like me this is an instant no sale) and a late model Ford Edge.
Ford really cranks these out so dealerships still had a few 2013s new on their lots. All Edges have a rather snappy V6 in them. The AWD model was out of my price range. The FWD models however.
So I went to the Ford dealership first, just to check it out and get some measurements. Slightly more cargo room then my parents Vue (including height) so that met my requirement. v6 with a towing capacity of over 2500 lbs (3500 in this case). Decent fuel economy considering the size and class of the vehicle. And most importantly a physical KEYED ignition.
Yes that's right... Ford is one of the few auto manufacturers that still offer true Key based ignition on a lot of their vehicles. Yes it runs a chip, but if the battery runs out or it gets wet it will start. This is kinda something I've been very very twitchy about.
I almost bought it right there, and the dealer while friendly was trying to get me to stay. I apologized and said there was a good chance I'd be back. After test driving I really was impressed and surprised by it. It ran quiet, smooth and had about the same turning radius of my much smaller Elantra which shocked me.
But I wanted to see the Santa Fe. And part of me wanted to remain a loyal Hyundai customer. And part of me is sad not to be anymore. I had a lot of good adventures with my Elantra. But I guess its time to move on.
Got to the Hyundai dealership that had the used Santa Fe I was eyeballing. The staff was very unhelpful. I had to wait 30 mins before anyone helped me. They said they were all "busy" yet the place was a ghost town. They finally let me test drive it. The dealer just had me sign a waiver and didn't come with; and handed me the keys to go test drive it.
Got in, and the car had a very strong odor to it. As in they were trying to cover something up but I could clearly smell the reminants of.... Smoker car. Strike one.
Curious stains on the driver and passengers seats. Strike two.
Handling: sluggish to accelerate. Noisy as hell. Rode a lot rougher then the Ford. Strike Three.
More I thought of it, having a slightly larger cargo space and AWD weren't enough to convince me on the Smelly Santa Fe. The Edge is a heavier vehicle, has higher ground clearance and larger tires, and has independent traction control. While AWD is nice... I think I can manage with traction control when things start to slip.
Yeah I could have waited for another used Santa Fe to pop up. Or take one with higher mileage but....
I drive enough that I talked myself into buying new. I had one bad experience with a Hyundai dealer. Does this mean they are all bad? Of course not. Does this mean that the Santa Fe is a bad vehicle? No of course not; but I was impressed at how responsive and smooth of a ride the Edge was by comparison...
So I went back to the Ford dealership and signed my tax refund over to them in a form of a check. >.> And raised my monthly car payments by $130. But this was inevitable.
Unless I want something like another budget subcompact or can settle for "well used" my payments are going to go up at this point. Is the nature of things, Inflation sucks :/
So... I've got something even more expensive then my video camera sitting in the garage right now. And it also forces me to actually budget. No more wantonlessly buying cameras, lenses and toys.
I have to tighten down my budget if I want to keep more long term investments in play. This with the studio rent will force me to budget my money rather then saying "I make more then I need lets go blow it on crap yaaay!!!"
The one little bread crumb is that my auto payments are deffered for a month. So it gives me to save money and prepare for the increased Whallop that will hit me next month. While keep on paying off my credit cards at the same time...
Yeah I'm done buying toys for a long time. Time to focus on the long term ahead. And start out on a new Journey ahead.
Well I wouldn't say its totally impulse. Its something I have been considering for a few months now and something I knew I would have to face in a year or two from now anyways... I've just expidited the process a little so that I could stop borrowing my parents vehicles whenever I wanted to go on a long road trip with friends or take the boat out >.>
Tonight I traded my 2010 Hyundai Elantra in for a new 2013 Ford Edge. Yeah I guess I went from Ford to Hyundai back to Ford again. When I orignally set out I wanted a Santa Fe.
Only to find out that the only NEW Santa Fes in my budget only have a wimpy 4 cyl engine. Fine I guess for most but for someone hauling a boat... not exactly going to fly. Plus after finding out how sluggish the V6 version felt... yeah...
So I started to look for the more expensive Santa Fe's used. This was a challenge. Most people who buy these practically drive them into the ground before they trade them in. I guess I was one of them >.>
I found one that fit the bill. It was an older model (2011) but had really low miles on it. I was bored at work so I fiddled around with options for something new in my price range. I came up with the Dodge Journey- which I sat in at the Minneapolis Auto show and HATED (very cramped cabin. For a big guy like me this is an instant no sale) and a late model Ford Edge.
Ford really cranks these out so dealerships still had a few 2013s new on their lots. All Edges have a rather snappy V6 in them. The AWD model was out of my price range. The FWD models however.
So I went to the Ford dealership first, just to check it out and get some measurements. Slightly more cargo room then my parents Vue (including height) so that met my requirement. v6 with a towing capacity of over 2500 lbs (3500 in this case). Decent fuel economy considering the size and class of the vehicle. And most importantly a physical KEYED ignition.
Yes that's right... Ford is one of the few auto manufacturers that still offer true Key based ignition on a lot of their vehicles. Yes it runs a chip, but if the battery runs out or it gets wet it will start. This is kinda something I've been very very twitchy about.
I almost bought it right there, and the dealer while friendly was trying to get me to stay. I apologized and said there was a good chance I'd be back. After test driving I really was impressed and surprised by it. It ran quiet, smooth and had about the same turning radius of my much smaller Elantra which shocked me.
But I wanted to see the Santa Fe. And part of me wanted to remain a loyal Hyundai customer. And part of me is sad not to be anymore. I had a lot of good adventures with my Elantra. But I guess its time to move on.
Got to the Hyundai dealership that had the used Santa Fe I was eyeballing. The staff was very unhelpful. I had to wait 30 mins before anyone helped me. They said they were all "busy" yet the place was a ghost town. They finally let me test drive it. The dealer just had me sign a waiver and didn't come with; and handed me the keys to go test drive it.
Got in, and the car had a very strong odor to it. As in they were trying to cover something up but I could clearly smell the reminants of.... Smoker car. Strike one.
Curious stains on the driver and passengers seats. Strike two.
Handling: sluggish to accelerate. Noisy as hell. Rode a lot rougher then the Ford. Strike Three.
More I thought of it, having a slightly larger cargo space and AWD weren't enough to convince me on the Smelly Santa Fe. The Edge is a heavier vehicle, has higher ground clearance and larger tires, and has independent traction control. While AWD is nice... I think I can manage with traction control when things start to slip.
Yeah I could have waited for another used Santa Fe to pop up. Or take one with higher mileage but....
I drive enough that I talked myself into buying new. I had one bad experience with a Hyundai dealer. Does this mean they are all bad? Of course not. Does this mean that the Santa Fe is a bad vehicle? No of course not; but I was impressed at how responsive and smooth of a ride the Edge was by comparison...
So I went back to the Ford dealership and signed my tax refund over to them in a form of a check. >.> And raised my monthly car payments by $130. But this was inevitable.
Unless I want something like another budget subcompact or can settle for "well used" my payments are going to go up at this point. Is the nature of things, Inflation sucks :/
So... I've got something even more expensive then my video camera sitting in the garage right now. And it also forces me to actually budget. No more wantonlessly buying cameras, lenses and toys.
I have to tighten down my budget if I want to keep more long term investments in play. This with the studio rent will force me to budget my money rather then saying "I make more then I need lets go blow it on crap yaaay!!!"
The one little bread crumb is that my auto payments are deffered for a month. So it gives me to save money and prepare for the increased Whallop that will hit me next month. While keep on paying off my credit cards at the same time...
Yeah I'm done buying toys for a long time. Time to focus on the long term ahead. And start out on a new Journey ahead.
My father's been working on cars since he was 10 and ran his own business since the mid 90's and sees all of the ups and downs of certain cars.
The Edge isn't that bad, he's got the Lincoln version and it's pretty nice. At the end of the day, anything is better than a Dodge I guess (the majority of his work)
Only Dodge vehicle I would buy if it was practical and I like won the lottery and could have a garage full of different vehicles would be a Challenger. That being said... its not a very practical car for me.
But glad it will do everything you are looking for it to do. :)