bedeviled mojo slop

I didn't spend part of the afternoon, but all of the afternoon shopping for a new car. Mid-March, my Honda Prelude's lease expires. I got this car because it was exactly what I wanted from my next car after driving a Toyota Corolla for 3 years. There's no comparison. I loved the look and the style of the Prelude, but since Honda has discontinued the Prelude and it's not a car I care to drive in the snow, it's time for it to go back. Honestly, I don't know who they're going to get to take it when it comes off lease, but that's not my problem.

Today I visited with Honda, BMW, and Mercedes. Why Honda? Well, if I wanted to have a lease payment half of what I'm paying now or want to buy the car outright, then I could just as well go into Honda and drive a new Civic off the lot. It's a practical car, I'll say that much. It's roomy and it drove well, but it's not a Prelude and it doesn't compare to the BMW or Mercedes that I looked at. I'm still keeping it as an option because I could do other stuff like buy another motorcycle or something else fun.

My next stop was Mercedes-Benz where I drove the C230 Kompressor Sport Sedan. It's a nice car on the inside. A little narrow. The seats felt good. The console was nice. It looked and felt like a "modern" car. I'll need to drive a manual next week since I test drove an automatic. After driving a manual transmission, I'll never go back to an automatic transmission. I like to "feel" a car's responsiveness and you can't get that from an automatic or those sport shifter-type transmissions.

Finally, I drove the BMW 325xi. What a nice car. It drove well and the premium package and cold weather package (I'm talking heated wipers y'all) would be nice to have. Damned if I didn't walk out of there and forget to ask the person I was speaking with about the auxillary input. Yes, my iPod factors minorly into the overall decision. Note to self: call about the auxillary input.

I think it will be between the BMW and Mercedes. Let's face it, the Honda Civic never had a chance to compete on features, handling, or speed. It can compete on price and that's about it. Now, I don't have a long commute by any stretch and I'm not in the car driving any more than I need to be so having a Honda Civic would suit me just fine. I guess I've got to decide what, if anything, I'd do with the extra cheddy if I got a Civic. Otherwise, I've gotta go feature matrix up in this biznatch and see how the BMW and Mercedes-Benz stack up against each other. Bling for the buck, the Mercedes might have an edge, but I do like the features in the BMW.

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[Posted with ecto]