Dudes: Looks like we’re gonna be buying this car. Probably this week.
What we really were looking for was the Holy Grail combo of fuel economy and space to fit a four person family comfortably, plus luggage. What the Forte (new for 2010) offers us is:
- Interior space & trunk space compared to any other sedan in the compact category: there’s no comparison.
- Gas mileage amazingly good for its size: up to 36 mpg with an optional "fuel economy package"
- Features (from 100k mile warranty to crazy things like electronic tire pressure detector and iPod jack) that are INSANE for the price.
My research has been fast and furious, but the bottom line, as I see it, is this: South Korean companies seem to have the formula for making great cars for less, in a way no other country seems to have mastered. And this car in particular (actually, a totally re-engineered “Spectra”) seems like one of a kind. It’s going to feel like we’re not driving a compact car, and not getting good gas mileage, even when we are.
For more information than you necessarily need to know, read below:
It’s gonna cost us in the low $17,000s before we get a $1000 discount for trading in a “competitor” (Saturn SW) and getting whatever trade-in value we can get for it ($695 even in “fair” condition, according to the Kia website). We’ll be plunking down $12,000 on the spot (most of my remaining severance), and financing the rest. My severance’s lump sum came to me at about 52% of gross, so hopefully we’ll be getting an enormous tax return next year and can just finish it off, then.
Like Stephen, I've always considered myself a person that simply hates cars, and wishes we didn't have to deal with the infernal machines at all. But - I am not immune to the notion of comfort; and this last trip down to Waterloo in one of our two crampy, un-airconditioned cars (both over 11 years old) was just about the last friggin' straw. Life is too short for putting up with that kind of crap, especially with a wad of cash uncharacteristically sitting there in my bank account.
For years, in many different ways and on many different levels, I've lamented not really being the beneficiary of many of life's little breaks. Brothers, things appear to have changed. Please, all, don't let me get cocky.
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11 comments:
Sturdy goes for a Forte? Hilarious!
frals: texted free for alls
Forte is an italian word that means loud. Dan is making a lod statement as he drives quietly (piano) down the road.
Indeed, this is hilarious.
alfen: one of the chipmunks in an alternate dimension.
I made the forte = "loud" remark to Sharon, as we were driving back from the dealership following our last visit. Does seem funny, for a car that (in the brochure) touts its quiet ride.
Well, they couldn't call it "piano". That would be weird.
Nifty.
I'll toss in that we're getting a new car, possibly a Honda, in September. I'm going to start driving to work when the child arrives. I got the hanging lot pass in the mail and I felt like a real adult.
congrats
Sorry, but while in a musical context forte is understood as meaning loud, it actually translates as strong (or forceful, where the word force is the direct descendant of the original). It also specifically translates as sturdy.
And piano means gentle or in a low voice.
So bite me.
Way over the top nerd boy! I should mention that I am thinking that in my head with a Forte voice.
Just expanding your mind, clueless Joe.
Sorry, interest in cars (and appropriate names for them) are not my forte.
Right ON!
snedness: your comparative likeness to Sned, that kid who sits in class furiously scribbling inexplicable notes and drawings that he never shows anyone.
Plan was to have gone home with the car last night, but the "trim" we wanted was not on the lot. Hopefully, Friday. We will be Saturn-less.
entchess (1): a strategic board game with two opposing sides of fuzzy, tree-like pieces
entchess (1): how the change in your height is measured, after a draught of ent-juice
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