A Day at the Auto Show

For those of you who don't know, I am thinking about buying a new car one of these days. Also, for those of you who haven't had the joy of riding in my current vehicle (a 1995 Dodge Neon) here are some of it's great features (besides of course being a Dodge Neon):

• The driver's side door lock is busted from the third time someone tried to break into it.
• The car stereo slot has been empty since someone stole the car stereo (from the first - and only successful - break in).
• The speedometer does not work most of the time (and hence the odometer is not very accurate). The oil and service lights go on at random intervals, and once the gas gauge died.
• The left rear tail light cover is busted.
• There is a big dent in the right hand side of the car, from the time I got into a disagreement with a parking garage pillar (and lost). There are also a number of smaller scratches and dents.
• The radiator runs hot, which also means that the air conditioning pretty much doesn't work.
• The car is covered in so much dust that I think it's actually bonded to the paint job.
• Every once and a while the seat belt alarm won't shut off and I have to keep turning the car on and off until it stops.

So as you can tell, this car is a real babe magnet. Of course, all this being said the car starts every time and runs pretty well, although I imagine the handling and performance has gotten worse over time.

Back to the Auto Show. I went with my friend Ken who wanted to sit in a Lexus and pretend he was going to buy it, while I had more practical things on my mind. I had a handful of cars I wanted to look at, sit in, smell, whatever you're supposed to do with new cards. The two top contenders at this point are the Mazda6 and the Honda Civic. While originally I was looking at the Mazda3, I found the Mazda6 to be more comfortable and roomier, in fact it was the most comfortable of the cars I looked at. Of course it's a touch more expensive but I'd spring a little more to be comfortable. Plus it had a solid design, and if I remember correctly it had a pretty good reliability and safety record. The Civic was my original number one choice, but I'm not so sure any more. The new Civic has a much cooler design than before, and of course has a pretty ridiculous reliability record.

The Toyota Corolla was a little disappointing. It's one of the less expensive cars and it has an absurd reliability record but let's face it it's kinda bleech. The inside design was kind of retro-crappy and cheap looking, and the body leaves something to be desired. I also spent some time with a couple Nissan models, and the idiots from Ford decided that they only needed to bring the Ford Focus hatchback because apparently people are buying hatchbacks like hotcakes.

Still, there is research to be done. I don't think I'll be buying anything until I get back from Denmark, but if anyone you know is in the market for an awesome black Dodge Neon there might be one on the market around September.

P.S. Sorry I tried to upload some car pics but Blogger is having a personal moment again.

P.P.S. Alright apparently to post pictures I have to delete my temporary internet files and cookies every time.