A new tech-toy (sort of)
Well, now that the jetskis were sold, I didn't need a tow vehicle anymore, so it seemed like a good time to start thinking about a new vehicle.
The new 2007 Toyota Camry ads caught my attention (I think I first saw one during the Superbowl in High Def). Why don't they put all ads in HD? They might actually get people to pay more attention to them! (But I digress)...
When I found out about the Camry Hybrid, I really got interested. I liked the idea of driving a hybrid - mostly because I hate putting gas in my TrailBlazer every week or more. I wasn't particularly fond of the Toyota Prius, though, because of its styling (but its mileage rating is appealing - 60 city/51 hwy).
I started looking into them a little deeper online, and found a lot of useful forums - www.edmunds.com and www.greenhybrid.com are good places to start. I decided to place a refundable deposit at a local dealer in Holland, but they said that it could take several months to get one. I thought about it overnight, and ended up calling another dealer in Muskegon, and they felt they could get one a bit more quickly, so I gave them a refundable deposit too. I put a few calls in to other dealers in Lansing and Battle Creek, and ended up putting deposits with both of them too! $1000 total on deposit across 4 dealers was not something I wanted to do, but I didn't want to risk the possibility of not getting one before October 1st. If this happened, the federal tax credit of $2600 would be reduced to $1300.
After a couple of weeks of waiting, the Lansing dealer called and said they would have one (in the color I want and options I wanted - loaded) in about 3-4 weeks. I got all excited about this, and expected it to arrive around the middle of June. As that time approached, I had a hard time reaching my salesman, and when i finally did, he was unable to provide any kind of arrival date.
Around this same time my salesman from the Battle Creek dealer called, and said they were going to put in an allocation for one, and he was going to ask for one loaded in my color choices. I had previously told him that I had one lined up at another dealer, so the fact that he called and asked about this was a surprise. He said he looked at their system and didn't see ANY Camry Hybrids with Navigation allocated to a Michigan dealer. This was when I realized that the Lansing dealer was either lying or grossly misinformed. I told him to try to get one allocated. He ended up getting a silver one with nav allocated, but decided to try to work out a dealer trade to see if he could get one in Magnetic Gray or Blue Ribbon. One of the last dealers he tried (in Indiana) had a Gray one for his customer, and they actually wanted Silver! It worked out perfectly!
I got the call on July 11th, as we were getting ready to leave Abby's doctor appointment (she was getting her cast off - finally!!). We went home, picked up the TrailBlazer and headed for Battle Creek (in some VERY heavy rain). I managed to avoid rear-ending another car on the way there by mere inches - that could have made the trade-in process interesting...
I have now had it for 2 weeks, and I am loving this car. I love the styling - many people have said it looks European - even BMW-ish. It has so many tech toys built in - keyless (Smart-Key) entry and "ignition", a Nav system, bluetooth hands free communication with my cellphone, and the list goes on...
The best "tech" of this car, though, is Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. What an engineering marvel - a 147hp gas engine, and a 40hp electric motor working in "synergy".
I think I actually am driving differently now - I keep striving for better mileage rather than always doing the "jackrabbit" starts. My first tank was about 32.7 mpg, but my second climbed to 37.7. My current tank is at exactly 40.0 mpg, about with about 5/8 tank left. I really hope to keep this one above 40!
Here are a couple of pictures:
The new 2007 Toyota Camry ads caught my attention (I think I first saw one during the Superbowl in High Def). Why don't they put all ads in HD? They might actually get people to pay more attention to them! (But I digress)...
When I found out about the Camry Hybrid, I really got interested. I liked the idea of driving a hybrid - mostly because I hate putting gas in my TrailBlazer every week or more. I wasn't particularly fond of the Toyota Prius, though, because of its styling (but its mileage rating is appealing - 60 city/51 hwy).
I started looking into them a little deeper online, and found a lot of useful forums - www.edmunds.com and www.greenhybrid.com are good places to start. I decided to place a refundable deposit at a local dealer in Holland, but they said that it could take several months to get one. I thought about it overnight, and ended up calling another dealer in Muskegon, and they felt they could get one a bit more quickly, so I gave them a refundable deposit too. I put a few calls in to other dealers in Lansing and Battle Creek, and ended up putting deposits with both of them too! $1000 total on deposit across 4 dealers was not something I wanted to do, but I didn't want to risk the possibility of not getting one before October 1st. If this happened, the federal tax credit of $2600 would be reduced to $1300.
After a couple of weeks of waiting, the Lansing dealer called and said they would have one (in the color I want and options I wanted - loaded) in about 3-4 weeks. I got all excited about this, and expected it to arrive around the middle of June. As that time approached, I had a hard time reaching my salesman, and when i finally did, he was unable to provide any kind of arrival date.
Around this same time my salesman from the Battle Creek dealer called, and said they were going to put in an allocation for one, and he was going to ask for one loaded in my color choices. I had previously told him that I had one lined up at another dealer, so the fact that he called and asked about this was a surprise. He said he looked at their system and didn't see ANY Camry Hybrids with Navigation allocated to a Michigan dealer. This was when I realized that the Lansing dealer was either lying or grossly misinformed. I told him to try to get one allocated. He ended up getting a silver one with nav allocated, but decided to try to work out a dealer trade to see if he could get one in Magnetic Gray or Blue Ribbon. One of the last dealers he tried (in Indiana) had a Gray one for his customer, and they actually wanted Silver! It worked out perfectly!
I got the call on July 11th, as we were getting ready to leave Abby's doctor appointment (she was getting her cast off - finally!!). We went home, picked up the TrailBlazer and headed for Battle Creek (in some VERY heavy rain). I managed to avoid rear-ending another car on the way there by mere inches - that could have made the trade-in process interesting...
I have now had it for 2 weeks, and I am loving this car. I love the styling - many people have said it looks European - even BMW-ish. It has so many tech toys built in - keyless (Smart-Key) entry and "ignition", a Nav system, bluetooth hands free communication with my cellphone, and the list goes on...
The best "tech" of this car, though, is Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. What an engineering marvel - a 147hp gas engine, and a 40hp electric motor working in "synergy".
I think I actually am driving differently now - I keep striving for better mileage rather than always doing the "jackrabbit" starts. My first tank was about 32.7 mpg, but my second climbed to 37.7. My current tank is at exactly 40.0 mpg, about with about 5/8 tank left. I really hope to keep this one above 40!
Here are a couple of pictures:
posted by Spiff at 7/25/2006 06:47:00 PM
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