Winning the Pool

Many friends have an unofficial pool going that states that CC will not get a new ride until Herbie, aka GoCartus Maximus, is a smoking husk on the side of the road. Due to recent problems, such as a driver's side door that won't open properly, Herbie has actually been renamed in some circles as Death Cart.

Well, after another tow job last week and an increasingly loud cacophony of ills during the commute (for which I had started wearing earplugs, seriously), I knew the time had come. With a 60-mile/day commute, Herbie was being flogged to death like an old kindly trail horse being thrown into the Kentucky Derby. It was time to put him out to pasture.

And so the day began, Saturday AM. I had 4 target vehicles, and set out, with title in hand....

And the upshot is that I now own one of them! The Era of Herbie is over... Long live go-carts!

Here is a rough chronology of the day:

Vehicle 1: the G35

This was the same G35 that I saw before. It's an auto but I was willing to make that sacrifice. The car made me feel like Batman. On the 2nd test-drive, I confirmed that it was fast indeed but somehow the sexy factor wasn't there. This was due to: (a) the first time it was in a dark garage, and caught the light just so and (b) I saw Vehicle 2.

Vehicle 2: Subaru WRX STi

This car is the famous "STi". Some friends dream about this car when they go to sleep at night. It is the ultimate boy racer: a near-race-ready rally car that has 300+ HP. There was a black '04 on the lot next to the G35. It was all I could think about when driving the G35.

I took it for a test-drive. My my.... The acceleration was like the shot from the new roller-coasters. In addition to a tach gauge, there was a "turbo boost" gauge: when you walked on this thing, all of these dials were spinning along with your head.

Sadly, the road noise was ferocious, even at 40 mph. But I didn't care. No one cares. The ladies can laugh and make jokes about the hideous hood scoop (as I once did) and absurd wing (which I love). This car deserves all of the hype it gets. Another minus, though, was extreme squeaking from the brakes.

Vehicle 3: The Pocket Rocket

I saw this little number online during the week. Conveniently, at the same dealer as the other 2. It's a Honda Civic Si, and is in a class of cars known as the "hot hatches" or "pocket rockets". Although the Civic Si has been surpassed by others (most notably the MazdaSpeed 3), this one caught my eye for some reason.

I drove it right after the STi which is a bit like following The Beatles or the Stones onstage. But it did ok for itself -- it was fun to drive and peppy if not hellacious.

Vehicle 4: The Yellow Mini

I've mentioned the yellow Mini Cooper S in the past. I drive past the dealership in St Peter's everyday, and this one was definitely the favorite going into the day. Driving out on Saturday, I had a price in my head for negotiation. Also, Herbie was making some serious noise from the transmission: I didn't know how much would be left in him, seriously.

I took the Mini for another ride, but the honeymoon was over. I was disturbed in that the sunroof (moonroof?) had no cover to shield the light. I was also disturbed by a major sub-theme: where's my bike going to go? There are bike racks that bolt into the license plate area but upon inspection, the Mini only had 2 holes for the plate, where most have 4.

The dealer came to within $300 of the offer in my head. I nearly went for it, but it came up in conversation that the only dealer for Mini's in StL is the AutoHaus in Clayton. Gah! With all of Herbie's woes, I didn't want a car for which I might have to schedule a Saturday appt 6-8 weeks in advance. (I don't know if that is true, but there are a lot of Mini's around -- one shop??).

Plus, it's yellow. If it had been blue with the black racing stripes, then I'm in. But...

I left to go back to the original dealer, begging Herbie to just hold on for one more trip.

The Winner

On the drive back, I knew I would get one of the first three... but which one?

I realized 2 things: (a) I needed to relax because this whole thing is insane and (b) one of them was more fun than driving the Mini. Plus one of them would probably be way more reliable than the others.

In a surprise move, out of nowhere, the Pocket Rocket won the day. I bought it yesterday. It was fun to drive, cheap, and looks really sharp (more so if you are in high school and a fan of the Fast and the Furious).

This may well not be The Next Car. It was more of "let's establish a foothold so I can think". Actually, its name comes from the famous Rodin piece.

If this link still works, meet Rowdy (click here). This is the actual car. Rowdy comes from "Rodin" and the significant road-noise..... it's no STi but he's a bit rowdy on the road.

Epilogue

So, let it be known that I did trade in before catastrophic failure with Herbie. Though it was close: he had 206,6xx miles at the end. The trade-in value was $400. LOL.

No emotion, per se... Despite the narrative and the anthropomorphization (?), it's just a ride... but it was a good one. Good luck, Herbie.