jginnane

Late last fall we started looking to replace two cars -- my wife's 3rd generation TL, which had a couple Carfax items on it (not her fault), and my 98 Yukon.

The first idea was to try to get a pair of configurations that would be more practical/useful for a couple empty-nesters. So I spent time looking at Infinitis. The G35/37 models were conventional -- no different from her TL. The FX was crudely, overtly masculine ... and didn't offer anything we hadn't had in a Mercedes ML before. The EX, sized at about 7/8ths as big as an FX, seemed to fit the bill. BUT in six months of looking, I couldn't find one within 1500 miles of me on the East Coast that didn't have 4WD.

Along the way, I got to like what I'd learned about the VQ engines.

Finally it came down to a radical decision -- we really didn't need a crossover/SUV. In fact, we really didn't need a back seat at all (for one of the cars). So I started for the first time seriously considering a Z. (At 50+, there may not be enough time left if I wait.

The wife thought I wasn't serious at first, then as she saw that I was, we'd have conversations that would go --> She: "Completely Impractical!" Me: "That's Not The Point!" (She had never driven a sports car.)

We spent a lot of time going over past decisions. One lucky stroke for me was we got an overstock.com quote on a 2009 Acura TL, and happened to be by the dealer where we'd gotten her 3rd gen TL. (But we were actually at the dealer that day evaluating whether to replace the Yukon with an Acura RDX.) I showed our salesman the numbers I had on an 09 TL from overstock.com, and he quietly said "We can do that."

So on April 30th we bought her a Royal Blue TL with "tech", and the numbers worked out so it was $8-10K in our favor from when we'd been by there back in December '08.

With that car change out of the way, the wife stopped making comments about the Z. But it still took a few weeks to locate and obtain the color combo I wanted -- which was eventually flatbedded up from VA for $275. Robert Nash's VPP pricing in this forum helped by a couple hundred bucks. I also deliberately chose to get an automatic. (I didn't want to teach her how to drive a stick on my car, yet I also didn't want to shut her out of the driver's seat.

At that point we still had the old Yukon sitting outside, but I'd been watching progress on the "clunker" bill all year. Just last week I finally selected/traded for a Honda Element (w/ AWD) we'll be picking up next week. (Both Yukon and the E are "type 1 trucks" in the federal regs, so it's a $4500 credit.) The Yukon is already gone. We didn't plan on finishing out this year with three new 2009 cars, but already are planning to do all our City driving with the E (to save the two better cars).

There will be photos in my gallery soon of the 3 titled "Which is not like the others?" I don't think we could have come up with a wider array of configurations -- my 2-door RWD sports car, her 4-door FWD highway cruiser, and a 1 1/2 (suicide door) AWD box that uses regular gas. Well, yes -- I miss not having a stick, and if I could have found an Element in inventory anywhere with 2WD and a manual, that might have worked out.)

I still see threads here about people buying their first car as a Z, and hope they've got easy access to some kind of bulk mover, too. 95% of my driving these days, I don't need a cargo or people hauler, but the one week delay before getting the E is holding up some Home Depot stuff I'd otherwise be bringing home.