100_2637For the last few months my wife has teased me about getting a new car — every weekend she would say “lets go buy a Mustang…lets just go do it!” and every time we would drive past a sporty car she would remind me again that we needed to go get a “fun” car again.  And to be honest I have missed my Z dearly.  But it was a sacrifice well worth it.

My good friend Chad has had a Mazda RX-8 and so I’ve been able to still have some vehicular fun.  Recently Chad sold that car and is in the process of shopping for a new car.  Between my wife and Chad, I got caught up in the excitement of finding a new car.  The hunt was on.  I spent several weeks camping out on Craigslist and finally found a 2008 Bullitt Mustang that excited me and was a good price.  I set up an appointment at the dealer for me to come look at it on the weekend and everything seemed to be falling into place…. but then after a conversation with my Dad he encouraged me to “do my homework” and so I started looking at other vehicles with similar performance characteristics.

Now to be totally honest, a large contributing factor to helping me make a decision was my carpool — I know. I KNOW!!!!  But before you laugh too much hear me out.  First some math — I have a 50 mile round trip commute 5 days a week.  50×5=250.  250×3.5=875.  875×12=10,500 miles per year.  JUST IN COMMUTING!

My current car pool is with three other co-workers and it allows me to only have to drive one week a month.  50×5=250.  250×1=250.  250×12=3000 miles per year.  That is a BIG difference in cost, wear-n- tear and insurance.  So YES, my ability to remain in a 4 person carpool greatly influenced my car purchasing decision (NOW do you understand?!).  And a Mustang, although it has a back seat, no one wants to ride 2 hours a day in the backseat of a Mustang just so I can have fun while driving.

So I was torn– I really really really wanted a sporty car to drive, but I could afford to walk away from my carpool…. how can I find a car that fits both and still is in the affordable range?  :)   Doing my homework paid off.  I decided that the balance between 4 doors, budget and performance fell at the feet of a Subaru Impreza WRX.  For 2009 Subaru completely renovated the car from the previous year — overly soft suspension and an uninspiring engine didn’t win too many fans.  So Subaru got their game back on and came out with the most powerful [ 265 hp/244lb-ft torque turbo-charged horizontally opposed Boxer engine ] and best looking WRX to date.  A few calls around town to dealers and I learned that they were giving rebates and super low financing on 2009 models.  So Friday night at 6 pm I find myself in a  Subaru dealership wheeling ‘n dealing.  Four hours later I finally haggled to a price that I felt was acceptable and parked my OUR new shiny car in the garage.

I finally feel that I have a car that fits our family’s needs.  It has 4 doors so it works as a people/baby mover.  It has excellent safety crash test ratings, it is fast, it is a manual transmission, it is fast, it can be used in a car pool, it is fast, it looks good…have I mentioned that it is pretty FAST too?  :)

Tash is a bit hesitant about embracing the car– Tash is capable of driving a stick — she pilots motorcycles expertly — she just needs a little bit more practice at low speed maneuvers.  But once she gets that polished up she will be racing around Humble–you have been warned :) .

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