Jan 27 - car shopping

We did a bit of shopping yesterday, going to Daytona to see the 2008 X5 and then to Sanford to see a 2010.  The 2008 has reduced the room in the luggage compartment -- narrower and the rear seats don't go vertical, so I guess that's something that I'll have to figure out. 

My 2004 is a full 48" at the gate and 43" at the back seats.  The newer version is 43" the entire way.  In the 2004, an electric mechanism allows for adjustment of the rear seat angle, all the way to vertical, creating a huge luggage compartment.  In particular, if I fill up the bottom of the compartment, I can put my bicycle on top.  With the smaller compartment and seats at an angle, the bike won't fit.  What to do ?

Anyway, the 2008 was "ok".  Naturally these are all automatic transmission cars.  The only manual that I found in my search was a 2003 and I guess that we're not going to step back a year.  The car wasn't as comfortable as ours -- no, that's not the word -- not as "familiar" as ours.  It had lots of packages -- sport and luxury, I guess, with 19" wheels, nice seats etc. and complicated controls right down to the electronic control of the A/C air flow.  The 19" wheels felt like they were tramlining on the road, a similar feel that I get with the M5's wide wheels and yet the road feel wasn't there (it sure is with the M5 !).

The salesman was figuring that we were going to do a deal right away.  Nope.  That's me in some situations, but not this one.  I want to see a couple more versions before pulling the trigger on anything.  He made a show of calling over to a fellow salesman that the other could call that other customer back.  After we left the dealership we both laughed, wondering if there really is another buyer-on-the-hook or whether that was just a sales tactic.  Tch tch.  Shame on us !

So ... next up, the car in Sanford.  It's a 2010 obviously a trade-in at the Mercedes dealer.  The fellow called us on route to tell us that he was wrong, there were no heated seats.  Ah ... well, after listening to his message we decided to go anyway and take it for a drive, since it's an updated year and the diesel.

Nice car.  Feels like ours.  Stripped down is probably the wrong description but it was basic.  Manual louvers for the A/C ... why not ?  Our 2004 is like that.  The 2010 also had 18" wheels (ours has 17").  That 2008 seemed overblown by comparison.  The car felt like our 2004 from the inside.  The diesel ?  Wow.  What a difference.  No heated seats.  Had it had heated seats he probably would have had a deal.  Will we find heated seats here in the sunny south without all the other luxury package items ?  I don't know.

The fellow in Daytona was basically going to give us the auction value for our car, which is $800.  No surprise there.  I also need a trailer hitch added, which costs a little more than that to add back, at BMW (hitch parts, replacement bumper trim, trailer light connections).  I'm sure that he could have done better, providing at cost, but having driven that 2010, I know that we can find a car that I like.

So ... back home.  Jimmy and Sheryl arrived a little after we did, having had a good trip to the west coast.

What will today bring ?  time will tell ... Onward !