Tidbits
Sleepover at Ikea - Maybe this is the only way to get to the $1 early enough…
A ramen bath - Japanese spa with special baths resembling instant noodles. I wanna play!
Old age homes for dogs - 1) Old dogs don’t like to be abandoned at strange places. 2) Playing with young puppies will probably cause the older dogs to die faster due to exhaustion.
A remote-controlled pigeon - Oh the poor thing…
An article on a brilliant method of teaching grade schoolers about bats and rabies. I smell a lawsuit.
Will trade beer for Crumpler bags. Tempted by the beanbag and messenger bags…
Photos
Car Shopping: Part 1
May 12, 2007, 12:58 am
It all started when we took the snow tires off the Civic last weekend. Incredibly, it was actually a LOT noisier with the regular tires than with the snow tires. So much that I think it gave me a headache on the drive back to Loo. Anyways Mike took the car in to get his tire balanced on Monday, and the shop said there might be something wrong with his transmission. So he made an appointment with the transmission guys, and we were thinking that if there was a problem, then Mr Car is going to be replaced. We are not going to pay to repair anything major like that, the car is not even worth that much. It turned out that the problem really was with the tires. New set cost $400.
So earlier this week after work, Mike and I hit up all the neighbourhood car dealers to do some test driving. We tried the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and the Toyota Yaris. We looked at the Mazda3, but arrived too late to do any test driving. We also looked at the Volvo C30, and admired all the fancy features of Volvo cars in general, but we didn’t take it for a spin.
So my conclusions:
Honda Fit
The specs I had when I was car shopping almost two years ago still remain. I want a bubbly car with hatch, fuel efficient, inexpensive. Bonus if it comes in orange. The Fit “fits” all these requirements pretty nicely. The only problem is that it’s not that pretty. And it is also pretty noisy compared to other new cars, but compared to Mr Car, it’s practically silent. It also scores points in quality, in that it is still made in Japan. Honda recently upgraded the LX trim with cruise control, which brings down the price quite nicely. Originally, I thought I needed to go all the way to the Sports model to get cruise control. However, the orange colour is only available in the Sports version. What to do…
Nissan Versa Hatch
The Versa is a pretty fun car to drive, and the quality of the interior is definitely better than the Fit. The seats are so comfy. The sound system was quite nice too. I had a lot of fun playing with their bluetooth cellphone integration. Basically it’s voice activated, so it was pretty amusing speaking to the car to tell “her” the number to call. And I say her cause the computer voice is female. The mic is pretty good as well, as I called Gary with it and he said it sounded like I was calling directly on the phone. The Nissan salespeople don’t really know how to use the system though.
I’m particularly fond of the Versa as well because the visibility out the front windshield is better than the Honda and Toyota cars because the dash isn’t as high. Or maybe the seat is just higher. Anyways, I like I can see more. The CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) also makes for a nice and smooth ride because you don’t feel the gear shifts.
The thing I don’t like about it though, is that folding down the backseat don’t give you that much space. There’s no way I can fit a bike in there, unlike the Fit.
The sports trim of the Versa comes with a sunroof. I kinda want a sunroof, but I don’t know if it’s worth it, for ~$2k more?
Toyota Yaris Hatch
I don’t know why Toyota insist on creating such nice looking cars, and then ruin it by cheapening the interior. I mean, the Yaris and the new Camry looks so nice outside, but the inside is just crap. Especially the Yaris. It’s all cheap plastics and ugly fabrics. I mean, the Smart car can get away with the plastic to make it toy-like. But it’s just cheap in the Yaris. I’m surprised that even without the back seat folded down, the new Yaris had ok trunk space. It would be adequate with the seats down.
But the plastic. Ew.
Mazda3
So the Mazda3 is still on my list because the price is quite fair for all these luxary features such as climate control, leather seats, etc. I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit extra for these features. In any other make of car, it would be too much.
And then I learned about the Mazda2. Isn’t it pretty??
Lies!! All lies!
The Mazda2 is already out in the UK. Here is the site. Does this look like the photos above? I don’t think so!
Conclusions
So once again, car shopping is hard. I have such simple needs, but they are never_met_in_one_car! Why?? I mean, just put the awesome folding seats of the Fit into the Versa, add the old Nissan Murano orange colour back, and that’ll be my car. Hmm, maybe toss in the Dynamic T - Tec Upholstery from the Volvo, then I’ll be really happy.
Comments (7)
You want another Civic. Yes you do.
You want a used car. Yes you do 
I think I’m the only one who doesn’t actually like the Civic’s new look. No Civic for me.
And why do I want another used car? I’m already driving a couple of pretty used cars!
Of course, this from the person who admires the design of the gayest car in America (ref: http://www.gaywheels.com/top_10_researched_vehicles_on_1.htm)
Ha, if a GUY drives a Yaris, it’s pretty gay. But the Yaris can make any girl squeal like it’s a puppy or something. It’s that cute.
Hmm, from what I know, Fit is pretty awesome, I would have gotten it if I could have waited another half year for it to come out.
Yeah, Toyota is overrated, I don’t know all their cars (Corolla, Camry, Yaris) seem, boring.
That mazda2 sure looks awesome. And interesting feedback on the versa, I was telling a friend about when they were thinking of a car, but it was too new back then.
Which Mazda2, the green one? The UK version certaintly don’t look like that! As for the Versa, you might want to check into the new car smell problem.
© Maggie Tam 2007-2009 www.onechopstick.ca
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