Linked together

Since the car was broken into I've been thinking about things being stolen. And since Menards was selling their Kryptonite chains for next to nothing (apparently they weren't good sellers???) I have two of them now.

The added 16 pounds of chain didn't slow me down too much though. I made it home in 57 minutes compared to 45 minutes from the night before.

My co-workers think I'm crazy and that I have perpetrated an act of major overkill, but I like my bikes dammit.

Also, the added weight improved traction and momentum riding. Braking suffered on downhills, but when rolling the tires cut right through rotten ice.

Triple Rock and Midwest Mountaineering.

So yesterday we biked to the Triple Rock Social Club with our friend April.  I had Bertha's Big Ass Breakfast Burrito with sausage, April had a huge pancake and a plate of cheesy potatoes, and Shannon had the Rock Star Eggs and Toast.  I would like to go there after a night of hard drinking, the breakfast menu and the drinks it offers looks like a great way to fight a hangover.  I hear they make a wicked Bloody Mary, but a dog has to bite me first.

We were looking for fall and winter weather gear.  I was looking for a balaclava and Shannon is in the market for a new winter coat.  April had never been to Midwest Mountaineering.  We looked at everything.  We combed through Thrifty Outfitters, tried on half the coats, and didn't get followed around like a bunch of shoplifters.  

Shannon found a long sleeve shirt and I found a silk balaclava, and I had a crazy awesome idea for how to deter people from stealing bike seats. If anyone is looking to spend pile more than necessary on a Big Dummy, the Hub had one for just over two grand with a separate price tag for the basic basic kick stand holding it up.  Shannon's theory is: "Maybe it was put together with wuv, and that's what made it so expensive."

Rar is Toyota and the Honda didn't leave us feeling civil

So the salesman at the toyota dealer was nicer than the guy at the Nissan dealer.  And the guy at the Honda dealership had conflicting stories (which is it: did you buy an Avalanche as a second car or do you only have one car?!?!?).  Interesting how when a sale is drawn out over a few days how a story can change.

The Toyota was very nice.  But it didn't have the tachometer, and only had the 4 speed transmission.  And we really were looking for 5 speeds.

We test drove an '06 Civic which was awesome.  accept for a few things

1. why was the car in every 6k miles according to Carfax.  but didn't mention the sale to a dealership?

2. why was the battery replaced at 50k miles?  Why was the entire right tail lamp replaced when it was traded in?  

3. why was there a tic-tac-toe game scratched into the hood?!?

But this is not what killed the sale.

First off, the sticker price on this Civic was a little high.  Not by too much, but enough to give pause.  Second, why didn't the salesman change the pitch when we mentioned that the price was a bit high.

So why not a jetta.

We know the current owner.  We know the quality of maintenance it has received.  And the price is well below what the car is actually worth to a dealership.

All I have to do is  be a quick study for a standard transmission.

How Yar is Toyota

To quote Kathrine Hepburn “Oh she certainly was yar.”

We sat in a sedan of the Yaris, and it was spacious. But not exactly what we were looking for. But then we sat in the three door hatchback.

I don’t want to rave about features...

well...

sorta...

the back seat moved forward, back, and folded up flat. perfect for a French bike to ride on.

Something else that the Yaris had that I have never seen in a car is bolts holding the cover for the spare in place. Maybe to keep the road noise down? Something certainly did.

The car was pretty nimble, more so than the Versa. It accelerated a lot better, and gets better gas milage.

The salesman was also much nicer.

Zoidberg

To be clear, we really liked the Versa.  But something that really seems to have pissed off the guy at the dealership is this:

We don't rush decisions.

The car did most of what we want in a car, however, we haven't test driven any other cars yet.  How could we tell if we like chocolate more than vanilla if we never tried the vanilla.  What about Neapolitan? 

So it was the end of the day.  So we drove two cars and seemed to like on more than the other.

But what really killed the sale was when he said "So you like the car and the price, why am I not filling out the paperwork."

wa wah.

Clearly we wanted to think about the decision.  The car is going to cost almost as much as a year of college and he wanted us to buy without thinking.  

Even if the car was a steal there needs to be some time to think.  The sandwich heavy portfolio doesn't always win.

First Impressions

This past weekend we made our first steps onto the dealerships.

It was pretty much what was expected.  For one, it was pouring down rain intermittently. I can only imagine that people at dealerships in the rain are serious about buying a car.  

The Toyotas we saw didn't excite us.

We haven't made it to a Honda one yet.

At Brother Yam's suggestion we test drove a Versa.  It was pretty nice.  The S model was missing an arm rest.  Which threw me off.  I like to rest my elbow on an armrest while driving.  The 1.8V4 was quiet and sitting idling eerily quiet.  Entering 35 though I had to stomp on the gas to get up to 75mph, but the tach never past 5000.  rpm at speed was between 2500-3000 which is what we were used to in the van, keep in mind the van had a 3.4v6.  The 5 speed automatic seemed to run pretty much in the 2000s even on side roads.  

Something that impressed me was the turning radius: 8 parking spaces.  roughly a circle twenty some feet on the outside.  I think it was Volvo that introduced the idea in a concept car during the late 90s but they put triangular windows in the A column.  Which the Versa had at the base of the A column.  not a lot of added visibility but something a little different.

We also test drove a used Versa.  Still had the 1.8 liter engine, but a different transmission.  The CVT was weird because it just kept going.  No hesitation as the gears changed because there wasn't a gear to change.  Pickup was much better in the used SL than the brand spanking new S.  I liked the feel of the leather steering wheel, the armrest in the front and back seat.  The leg room in the back seat was comparable to AirMalta.  The ride in the back seat was pretty nice overall.  The salesman didn't know if the glass was UV or not, but since it wasn't mentioned on the DOT label in the corner: I don't think it was.  What I didn't like, and this is a big issue for me was the lack of key for the SL.  Instead it is a prox card.  So by approaching the car and touching the handle the doors unlock.  

If you watch Top Gear perhaps you remember when Jeremy bought the Ford GT.  It had a similar system of keyless operation.  And was plagued with bugs.

Now imagine a car for less than 10% the cost of his car with a key fob that will not let you lock the doors and walk away if a key fob is still in the car.  Say we are going some place and want to leave Shannon's purse in the car.  ah Ah AHH.  Car unlocks itself.  And since a key fob it in the car, all a thief has to do is turn a knob on the dash.

The SL is not for us.  Maybe they have an S with an armrest somewhere.

Today we storm the Fords on Robert.