My New Ride ... SPF Zero

My 1994 Mazda 626, that I bought in '97 and had 147,000 miles on it, was doing fine, except that it was time again to get it smogged, which it always failed. Other than that it was reliable, if uninspiring, transportation. Someone, Keith I think, asked if I was getting a new car and suddenly I was all over Autotrader.com.

At first I was looking for '03 and '04 Honda Accords, 6 cylinder, 6 speed manuals with sunroofs. I found one here in San Diego, went to look at it, and someone else was already signing the papers for it. Then Mr. Auto Encyclopedia Steve took me to the Honda Dealer to test drive a new Civic and the street rod CivicSI; which I liked but am too tall for; and a 4 cylinder Accord which is just an update of what I already have.

Then I discovered that used Acura 3.2CLs aren't much more than Accords. I found one at a dealer just down the hill, went to look at it, and again a buyer was just a half hour ahead of me. So the next night Steve and I went to look at one at the Suzuki Dealer in El Cajon that was a little more money but had really low miles. Oh, but it was long gone.

Unlike most dealers that have a lot of their main brand and a few used cars they get from trade ins, this dealer had just 1 short row of new vehicles and lots of used cars of all different kinds. In my price range they had Audi, Lexus, Mini Coopers, Jaguars, just to name a few. Steve, who used to sell cars, was thoroughly enjoying himself. When they asked me which one I wanted to look at first, out of my mouth came "how about the BMW Convertible". I'm not sure why, maybe there's something about Beemers that mimic part of our DNA.

My best friend back in the Midwest, Carol, always had a convertible. In fact I went along for moral support when she bought a really pretty deep purple Chrysler Sebring Convertible. Do you still have that, Carol? And Steve is the proud owner of a very hot Mercedes 2 seater with a retractable roof. When I moved out to California I always thought that if I ever got a chance to own a convertible, this is the place for it. But I never thought I'd find one I liked within reach. So I was looking for sunroofs.

Steve explained that California is the biggest market for nice cars. And when the first owner gets tired of them, or comes to the end of the lease, they turn in a vehicle that has been very well taken of; has seen no snow and very little rain. Then they come on the market fully depreciated with lots of life left in them.

This one is a 2000 323CI, 6 cylinders, 5-speed manual transmission with less than average miles. It has almost every upgrade that was offered at the time. And as you can see, just by holding a button, the roof folds itself into the trunk and covers itself up. But even with the top down there's respectable trunk room. It's an incredibly solid, heavy car that likes RPMs and goes where you tell it to. The engine just quietly hums to itself so all you hear is the wind. I learned from Carol that it's quite acceptable to blast the air conditioning or heat as needed with the top down. This one also has seat warmers for those chilly nights in San Diego when it gets down into the 60s.

Question: Why do guys like BMWs?

Because it's easy to spell.

Now the mid-life crisis is official.