Best Of

Oh, I'm not joking!
The rear opening of the sprinter is 61". Plenty of room. And, being RHD, I can easily open the door once inside thanks to the side sliding door of the van. It is almost like it was made for the task. lol.

Just don’t do this:

https://youtu.be/IMtuEg-n1ZI

Reminds me of a guy on Edmunds in a Mustang topic many years ago; he annoyed everyone for months agonizing over the correct color combo for the Mustang he was ordering. When he finally got the car he noted a paint imperfection that was only visible lying on his back and looking at the underside of the rear bumper. One wag commented that that type of paint damage was usually due to the car falling off the hauler during delivery.. Things got even more entertaining from that point...

So, as you may be aware, I've been contemplating a small (well, compared to the USS A7), fun convertible; mid-life crisis II. I've had a nice summer/fall of looking and test driving (oh, no. Another LD ramble forthcoming):

'15 Porsche Boxster: Anthracite Brown over Luxor Beige. Drove on a gorgeous summer day, temp ~80 with no clouds. Unfortunately, a very nice but somewhat nervous owner of the small used car dealer in coastal CT rode shotgun. Not that I would have done anything untoward, of course. Me gusto mucho, while not the torquiest of drives, the handling and nice ride were impressive (yeah, big surprise there). I left, strongly considering it; the price was the price. And, while not unreasonable (in these times), with taxes/fees it would have been ~$4k above my already thrice raised spending limit. Eventually, it sold, perhaps to my regret.
Went to Mohegan Sun after the test drive, to try to win the extra $4k playing blackjack. Had a great time and a nice run, but came up $3700 short.

'17 BMW 230xi: Mist? Silver over black/beige. Meticulously maintained. Test drove 2x, first on a cold and wet day, still lowered the top in between deluges... Great sport seats, nice sound for a turbo four. Great ride and handling. Reasonable price. But, noticeable squeaks and rattles from over my left shoulder (and it wasn't the seat belt apparatus) and some, at least perceived, noise from the front end. Asked sales dude to take it for a ride and see what he heard. He did a few days later with a tech, unsurprisingly, they heard nothing.
So, on another day, sunny, went with the wife to drive it again. Fun, fun, fun in the sun with a lovely blond riding shotgun. But, and she noticed right away, a rattling from the passenger side dashboard and her window; window down, no rattle. Window up, much rattle. Not glove box-related for other rattle, somewhere in the dash. Price had been lowered, thought about it, realized it was a used car, but the rattles likely would only get worse, that would drive me nuts. It, too, a few weeks later sold. Less regrets.

'18 Mercedes C300: Blue over chocolate (whatever the light brown, not beige MB calls it, MBTex. Love that color, whether Audi, BMW or MB). Certified, more expensive than the above Bimmer. Tested it on a lovely day, with the wife. Nice ride, if not as smooth as I would have thought a MB would be (AMG handling pkg). Not quite the grin-handling of the BMW, and the engine sounded a bit coarse. But, luxurious, well crafted interior (and air scarf!). Handsome little beast, but did not set my heart a flutter. Still, a contender.
Funny aside, I crawled into the back seat to check it out, as I was getting out of the passenger side, I reached for the open door for balance and the sales dude pulled the door back "to give me more room to exit," and I crashed to the ground ignominiously, mildly bloodying my left knee. And, pride. I got the feeling he liked my so-much better half, not so much me. Price went down $1k a few days later, and I believe it sold today. No regret.

'18 BMW M240xi: White over chocolate. Certified. Other than a lot of road rash on the wheels, which salesmeister said they would machine out, pre-sale, and tires he immediately noted they would replace, excellent shape. I don't think I even have to describe the ride, all here know of the glory of the sound and torque of the I6 bubbling under the hood.

So, you can guess what happened next: Punch!
Yes, we went back to the BMW dealer this morning and purchased the lovely white '22 BMW X3 for the wife. Wait, what??? Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. And, so proud of her, she asked for SWAG and was told she could have whatever she wants from the boutique, except for a watch. She got a stylish hooded jacket. I of course, filled my pockets with treats from the canteen... that'll show 'em.

Actually got a decent (these days) deal: $3700 below MSRP, but, as you may remember, add $1k mop & glo/scotchgard package (ok, "ceramic coating" which should last for years, no waxing required. And, if something evil happens, dealer will clean at no cost). So, net $2700 under msrp. I'm good with that. And, we took the Carmax offer on the '19 CX-5, it took much too long at the closest Carmax to get the deal done, but they honored the offer, less the small payoff of her loan. I paid cash for the X3 this morning, no pressure to finance, no price difference. Nice dealer, pleasant salesman.

So, Ray, small world. And, in our case, smaller engine.
Congrats!