Ebony's Pearls

I test drove several cars today, and eliminated every one of them as potential future cars.

I really liked the Honda Element. A lot. Unfortunately, I didn't fit into it. The seatbelt was not adjustable and it came across my face.It kept sliding up my neck,and over my chin and was stopped from its upward creep by my nose.

I can't drive a car that won't let me breathe.

Other than that, it was a nice car.

The Toyota Yaris has the speedometer sitting up high on top of the dashboard between the driver and passenger, creating a blindspot in front of the car.

The Toyota Matrix had the same seatbelt problem the Honda Element had. I didn't even bother trying to drive it.

At the Toyota dealership, we saw laughterdance's brother. He was working. Actually, he left a couple in the middle of a sale to dash out for hugs and a bit of chatter.

The sales people at the dealerships we visited varied greatly. The Honda dealership, the salesman was nice. He went out into the lot and brought each car to us so I wouldn't have to walk much. When we discovered the seatbelt issue, he knew that was a deal-breaker and didn't even try to push the car on us. He did offer some alternatives, and I may go back to look at the CRV. That seatbelt was barely tolerable. I could probably fasten a hook to the seat that would make the seatbelt safe and tolerable.

I liked that salesman, and if I do decide to buy a Honda, I will let him be the one to earn the commission.

The salesman at the Toyota dealership was not very friendly, and he had me tromping all over the car lot. He seemed reluctant to let me test drive anything,and after I did drive the Yaris (which is how I discovered how awful that speedometer was), he said I had to fill out liability forms for having driven it. He kept trying to sell me something and was very pushy and reluctant to let us go without committing to buying.

We left anyway.

If I do decide to buy a Toyota, it won't be from him.

His manager suggested the Scion, but they wouldn't let me drive one, just sit in it. The seat seemed to be broken,the lever that adjusted the seat back was jammed and even the salesman couldn't get it to move. I'm not sure I want to buy a vehicle that has parts breaking before it's even sold.

Just because my last 2 cars were Hyundais, I want to give Hyundai a chance. I don't really care for any of the models they have out, so I probably won't buy one.

In fact, the more I look around,the more I want to keep the car I have.