Wednesday, August 18, 2010

So long old friend...

2.5 weeks ago I finally said goodbye to The Coop after 7 faithful years of service. She was a beauty still and ran like a champ, but I had to let her go. It was time. Time to get a car with more than 4 inches of clearance in a major floodplain, time to get a car with more than 2 doors so my guests don't need to heave themselves out of the back seat like clowns, time to get a car without bucket seats in the back!

So I bid her a teary (yes, I said teary) adieu and sold her to a freshman in college (or rather her parents). They claim to want to put eyelashes on the headlights to make her more girly (le sigh)...I couldn't really bear to think about it, so I kept my mouth shut, let them pay me and waved farewell.

Happily, that very same day, our new car was available for pick up. The whole car pickup experience was drah-muh filled, but in the end we got the car we ordered from the factory at the price we ordered it for (jerks). Whew! What did we get you ask? A brand-spanking new 2011 Subaru Outback in dark blue: 2.5i Limited with puddle lights, all-weather package (for those Christmas jaunts to chilly MN), trailer hitch, moonroof, and Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) accountrements. PLUS I can pair my phone with my car and talk via my steering wheel. Never thought I'd use it, but it's one of my favorite things!

I.
Love.
It.

I love the company values (as far as I can tell, let's not get too political or nit-picky) and the fact that the Outback is built in the Indiana plant (U.S. jobs, yay) which is also an eco-friendly plant. The car is basically 50% Japanese parts, 50% US parts, which for me is a bonus. Yay team!

Anyway, I will post pictures eventually. Probably post-Africa adventure coming up here soon. That's the latest!

ps: Now we have 3 dark blue (almost matching) vehicles in our home: the VW Golf, the Buell and the Outback "Il Duce". Variety is the spice of life!