SearchMaster
Diamond Member
Vehicle 1
My wife's '07 Odyssey had >230K miles, and our mechanic advised us that the transmission was about to give up the ghost. In addition, it had a host of recurring problems (a/c mixing valves getting stuck, other sensor issues, etc.). He has always been very quick to recommend fixing instead of replacing, but this last time he said "it's time".
She wanted another minivan to replace it with, and didn't care for anything but the newer Odyssey (frankly I dislike its exterior but the inside is nice). I urged her to look at the new Sienna because feature for feature it's running $4-$5K less than the Odyssey, but she claimed its fold down seating is inferior (I didn't shop with her).
Anyway she found another EX-L (leather is a must for her, and she wanted Sirius/bluetooth as the only other must-haves) that was a 2014 demo model with 3K miles for just over $30K, which was an acceptable deal. It is the Smoky Topaz Metallic color, sort of a brownish-gunmetal color and looks nice. The interior is Truffle leather, a darkish gray. I don't have pics just yet. As it turns out, we went to sign the papers yesterday to pick it up...yesterday happened to be my son's 16th birthday.
Vehicle 2
My wife's brother is very close to my sons, and has been promising my eldest a car on his 16th birthday. I've not been in favor of this, because I'd rather him get a beater to start with and work his way up to a nicer vehicle like most of us. But in the end my wife and I didn't want to drive a wedge in between my son and his uncle, and he was very insistent on making it happen.
He had wanted to get him a BR-Z, but we rejected this idea. My son is a responsible driver but doesn't need more car than he's ready to handle. We looked at cars like Mazda 3, but my brother-in-law insisted on getting him something more upscale. And he's a big Audi fanboy.
So this (http://imgur.com/1d6BG4c, http://imgur.com/OoPlh4H - very small pic warning) showed up in our driveway. 2015 Audi A3 1.8T...way too much for a first car eh? I haven't exercised it very hard, but it's not very powerful at 170hp. My son was amazed by its quick steering but he hasn't driven my Focus ST 😀. The stereo is good, more powerful than my ST with better speakers, though I hope to upgrade my speakers soon. I like the two-tone interior though it's a definite step down from other Audi's. I had trouble finding a comfortable seating position. On a ~40 mile round trip to the credit union, the Honda dealership, and back home, I got an indicated 29.9 MPG...not bad. In a lot of ways I can see the appeal of this car...for $30K you can have an Audi instead of a well-equipped Accord, Camry, Mazda 3, etc. It's not fully loaded by any stretch but other than nav, I don't know what my son would want in a car). I'm not sure why Audi doesn't have proximity entry and start as a standard feature, even his R8 uses a key.
I'll update with better pics of both cars later.
My wife's '07 Odyssey had >230K miles, and our mechanic advised us that the transmission was about to give up the ghost. In addition, it had a host of recurring problems (a/c mixing valves getting stuck, other sensor issues, etc.). He has always been very quick to recommend fixing instead of replacing, but this last time he said "it's time".
She wanted another minivan to replace it with, and didn't care for anything but the newer Odyssey (frankly I dislike its exterior but the inside is nice). I urged her to look at the new Sienna because feature for feature it's running $4-$5K less than the Odyssey, but she claimed its fold down seating is inferior (I didn't shop with her).
Anyway she found another EX-L (leather is a must for her, and she wanted Sirius/bluetooth as the only other must-haves) that was a 2014 demo model with 3K miles for just over $30K, which was an acceptable deal. It is the Smoky Topaz Metallic color, sort of a brownish-gunmetal color and looks nice. The interior is Truffle leather, a darkish gray. I don't have pics just yet. As it turns out, we went to sign the papers yesterday to pick it up...yesterday happened to be my son's 16th birthday.
Vehicle 2
My wife's brother is very close to my sons, and has been promising my eldest a car on his 16th birthday. I've not been in favor of this, because I'd rather him get a beater to start with and work his way up to a nicer vehicle like most of us. But in the end my wife and I didn't want to drive a wedge in between my son and his uncle, and he was very insistent on making it happen.
He had wanted to get him a BR-Z, but we rejected this idea. My son is a responsible driver but doesn't need more car than he's ready to handle. We looked at cars like Mazda 3, but my brother-in-law insisted on getting him something more upscale. And he's a big Audi fanboy.
So this (http://imgur.com/1d6BG4c, http://imgur.com/OoPlh4H - very small pic warning) showed up in our driveway. 2015 Audi A3 1.8T...way too much for a first car eh? I haven't exercised it very hard, but it's not very powerful at 170hp. My son was amazed by its quick steering but he hasn't driven my Focus ST 😀. The stereo is good, more powerful than my ST with better speakers, though I hope to upgrade my speakers soon. I like the two-tone interior though it's a definite step down from other Audi's. I had trouble finding a comfortable seating position. On a ~40 mile round trip to the credit union, the Honda dealership, and back home, I got an indicated 29.9 MPG...not bad. In a lot of ways I can see the appeal of this car...for $30K you can have an Audi instead of a well-equipped Accord, Camry, Mazda 3, etc. It's not fully loaded by any stretch but other than nav, I don't know what my son would want in a car). I'm not sure why Audi doesn't have proximity entry and start as a standard feature, even his R8 uses a key.
I'll update with better pics of both cars later.
