Sunday, October 3, 2010

Car Hunt


For the last couple of weeks I've been on the prowl for some independence...in the form of a car.  Living in a country where the vast majority of cars are manual, it's much harder than you might expect to find an automatic.

I have made a couple of attempts to learn to drive manual (once back in Highschool - an old boyfriend tried to teach me, but it was a no go).  And much more recently, I've been going out with my husband to parking lots to try and learn.  Each time I stall, I get more and more frustrated.

So, the hell with it.  I'm buying an automatic.  Maybe someday I'll learn to drive manual, but for now, I need my independence and driving my OWN car is a great way to get it. 

We spent one entire day last week visiting over 10 dealerships all around Gothenburg.  I think we saw a total of 3 automatic cars.  It almost became a joke by the end of the day.  The eager salesman asking us what we were looking for...and as soon as we said automatic, you could see the disappointment in the salesman's face, since he wouldn't be selling us a car that day.  It should come as no surprise that we have had much more luck on websites advertising private listings (similar to Craigslist).

I really liked the VW Golf, but of course we cannot find an automatic one in our area.  We test drove a Hyundai Accent and a cute little red VW Polo today.  Although the Polo is adorable, it might just be too quaint (as real estate agents often refer to homes that are so freaking tiny, the only way to make them sound attractive is by using the word "quaint".  The Hyundai is a front runner - automatic, roomy, fuel efficient with great trunk space for strollers, suitcases etc.  I showed my 4 year old a picture of the car (darker red shade)we are thinking about buying but she said nope.  She wants a pink car.   The only pink car I've ever seen was this bubble gum pink little thing I spotted outside our hotel in Kensington on my trip to London back in August...see below.  I gently informed my daughter that it just wasn't gonna happen.


At any rate, I hope to have my own ride in the upcoming week or so.  I'll keep ya posted!
Wanna weigh in on your fave cars? Leave your comments below.

Brandi

1 comment:

  1. guess i should have just bid on the Hyundai instead of blogging about wanting to bid on it because the car was sold the day after we looked at it

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