Here is my new car in all of her shiny black glory! It took a lot of pointless dealership runs, test drives, trips to the valley, and a lot of time spent scouring the Auto Trader website, but she is finally mine!
A big thank you to Pat for countless hours spent on the phone getting
the details and negotiating prices for the listings I sent you!!!
Seriously, what would I do without you?!
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| [[ my fancy new car! ]] |
How we got here:
Me and Pat have been on the hunt for a new car ever since the Subaru was pronounced totaled. We started looking around Bend a few weeks ago, test driving and eliminating various models.
We realized fairly quickly (though it took me a little while to accept it) that replacing our car with a new Impreza was just not going to be an option. To go from our 2006 to a newer model we would have to sacrifice the engine, which had been downgraded in power over the years. Since the Sube had already felt sluggish at times, that took them pretty much completely out of the picture. Not to mention that the newer models definitely aren't as good looking as they used to be (in my opinion).
Moving forward, one thing that limited our options significantly was the fact that we wanted an AWD vehicle that didn't feel too big, since I would be the primary driver. We were also interested in certain upgraded features, like heated seats, bluetooth, etc, which ultimately lead us to look at a more luxury class that included these additions as stock. This also confined our search to used models, and lightly used models at that. Once we ruled out Volvo and really started looking in to Audis, specifically the A3 or A4 Avant (hatchback) models, it really felt a bit fleeting for a few weeks. I admit that having my heart set on black on black was not making things any easier either.
We ended up test driving a paper perfect 2011 A4 in Beaverton that was silver with grey interior, but it just didn't feel like my car and at that point we hadn't been scouring the internet for every possible option yet, so we walked away. A few days later a black version popped up in Eugene, so last Thursday after work we set out for the valley in the hopes that we would be coming home with a sweet new ride.
After spending the night in Salem with Tony, we headed for Eugene Friday morning, and six hours later we were driving off the lot in our beautiful "new" BLACK Audi A4 Avant, which is basically a way nicer version of my last car, way more luxury and all, but still sporty and the size is super comparable. Black on black, tinted windows, ALL the extras... this chick couldn't be happier!!!
I let Pat do all of the driving since he was heading to NOLA again for a week Sunday morning, so I didn't officially drive my car until I dropped him off at the airport. I will say, it handles corners like a dream, though I am still getting used to the breaking/acceleration and all of the damn buttons!
We realized fairly quickly (though it took me a little while to accept it) that replacing our car with a new Impreza was just not going to be an option. To go from our 2006 to a newer model we would have to sacrifice the engine, which had been downgraded in power over the years. Since the Sube had already felt sluggish at times, that took them pretty much completely out of the picture. Not to mention that the newer models definitely aren't as good looking as they used to be (in my opinion).
Moving forward, one thing that limited our options significantly was the fact that we wanted an AWD vehicle that didn't feel too big, since I would be the primary driver. We were also interested in certain upgraded features, like heated seats, bluetooth, etc, which ultimately lead us to look at a more luxury class that included these additions as stock. This also confined our search to used models, and lightly used models at that. Once we ruled out Volvo and really started looking in to Audis, specifically the A3 or A4 Avant (hatchback) models, it really felt a bit fleeting for a few weeks. I admit that having my heart set on black on black was not making things any easier either.
We ended up test driving a paper perfect 2011 A4 in Beaverton that was silver with grey interior, but it just didn't feel like my car and at that point we hadn't been scouring the internet for every possible option yet, so we walked away. A few days later a black version popped up in Eugene, so last Thursday after work we set out for the valley in the hopes that we would be coming home with a sweet new ride.
After spending the night in Salem with Tony, we headed for Eugene Friday morning, and six hours later we were driving off the lot in our beautiful "new" BLACK Audi A4 Avant, which is basically a way nicer version of my last car, way more luxury and all, but still sporty and the size is super comparable. Black on black, tinted windows, ALL the extras... this chick couldn't be happier!!!
I let Pat do all of the driving since he was heading to NOLA again for a week Sunday morning, so I didn't officially drive my car until I dropped him off at the airport. I will say, it handles corners like a dream, though I am still getting used to the breaking/acceleration and all of the damn buttons!
