Or should I run off with some young tart who'll stroke my ego and make me feel comfortable in my dotage? I'm terribly conflicted at the moment.
The Green Hornet got back from her stint at the automotive cosmetician yesterday, and the ol' girl is looking pretty spiffy for someone "of a certain age." A few pics...
The rear view. She looks particularly good from this angle. Like most ladies.
Before.
After.
So. Late yesterday afternoon we turned in that young tart of a CTS to Rierson Motors and picked up TGH from Rembrandt's Auto Body... who do GOOD work, by the way... that is definitely a recommendation if you live in this part o' the world. We motored back from The Big(ger) City™ by way of Cannon Airplane Patch, with the top up on account o' the heat. We noticed just how much noisier it is in TGH's cabin at speed, as opposed to the quiet interior space of the CTS. Speaking of space... there's SO much more of that in the CTS, TGH feels decidedly cramped in comparison. And our Bose system seems lacking compared to the Caddy's. You most certainly have to crank the volume in TGH at speed, compared to the Caddy. There's that interior quiet thing, again. Finally... TGH seems downright lethargic compared to the CTS. I ran her up to red-line in the lower four gears on the way home yesterday and her 148 horses just don't seem as motivated as the Caddy's 270... even with her weight advantage.
Just to refresh your memory, Gentle Reader: The Tart...
That's the way I'd buy her... black on black. Which is totally impractical for The High Plains of New Mexico, given (a) the heat and (b) the ever-present dust. The Tart would be dirty an hour after I washed her... ALL the time. But there are only two colors for Cadillacs... black or white. I don't do white.
So: conflicted. Should I stay or should I go? TGH whispered a sweet something in my ear this morning when I went out to shoot the pics of her new paint. To wit: "I know you're thinking about leaving me, Buck. But don't forget... I'm PAID FOR, Bay-bee. I'm ALL yours."
Maybe you should just get her a companion!
ReplyDeleteI doubt whether Pepper will ever let his (paid for!) Porsche go, but he drives it less and less. The hard-to-get-into thing, the not-a-lot-of-room thing. But, he does love to open her up from time to time on the highway.
The old gal does look spiffy, indeed, though!
Maybe you should just get her a companion!
ReplyDeleteI've given that some thought, Moogie. What stops me is the ridiculousness of one Old Guy having two spiffy cars and a sporting motorcycle... living in a trailer park.
I doubt I'd ever get rid of the Porsche were I Pepper. Some things are simply keepers. For EVER.
Paid for is No. 1, for sure!
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, your car is small. But it has always been big enough for anything you wanted to do, right?
But should you want or have to run back east for the family -- would your car make it again?
And your car has a lot of miles and starting to need repairs for this and that.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't!!
(I'm sure SN-1 and 2 have an opinion about that very nice Cadillac.)
And your car has a lot of miles and starting to need repairs for this and that.
ReplyDeleteOnly 53K... and that's NOT a lot o' miles. Besides that, I've made all the repairs she should possibly need for the next three or four years already (he sez, knocking on wood).
The car has always been "big enough," that's true. And she has a lot of life left in her... I never got rid of previous cars until they had well over 100K on the clock. For the most part; there was the odd exception here and there.
But still... I really have NO idea what I'm gonna do!
As a man currently in full swoon of newcarness, I should probably not weigh in. I am, shall we say, biased.
ReplyDeleteI'd be in full swoon were I you, Andy. That's a NICE ride you have!
ReplyDeleteWell, you've made me go look at the Cadillac website, but I was drawn to that Escalade. (The loaded ones start at $84,000.) That Escalade is a niiicce ride.
ReplyDeleteSo now I'm convinced -- you need that new Cadillac. Yep.
But wait, what car did Andy get?
ReplyDeleteDad,
ReplyDeleteIF/when you get the Tart... I've called first dibs on the Miata. ;)
The loaded ones start at $84,000.
ReplyDeleteAiiieee! I bought two houses for less than that! For 22K less you could have a 556 hp, rompin', stompin' CTS-V. Now THAT'S a ride I'd have, were I in that price segment...
Andy got an Infiniti sport sedan. It's here.
Sam: I'll let ya know!
Buck - it's your life, so what if it seems ridiculous to others to have 2 great cars and a motorcycle. Your life, your money, your fun to have.
ReplyDeleteI do understand the paid for vs. not paid for situation. We have to replace The Oracle's Jeep - and it's not expected. We are not prepared so it will be a car payment for the first time in 7 years.
Ugh.
Buck/
ReplyDeleteFirst, it's paid for and low miles. Second, currently you're that cool geezer/high plains drifter (take your pick :) ) with the moto and a convert sports-car. With the caddy--nice as it is--you'll be just another Joe in a Caddy. Status, man, status..
Kris: I hear ya about car payments. I haven't had one for seven years, either. The very THOUGHT of car payments upsets my stomach. That said... I AM leaning towards the Caddy. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteVirgil: Points well taken. I'd STILL have the moto if I bought the Caddy, tho. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy two cents. I LOVE Caddies! Owned five & never felt more comfy & safe in a car. They also GO when you want them to & I always want a car to GO when I say go - and fast! ;-) Only drawback I ever found is when repair time came around. Danged expensive. I've settled for a Chevy Impala the last two cars. Like them fine, but they're not Caddies!
ReplyDeleteYa' know, I like Seattle Andy. I like him a lot. But, if he gloats about that new ride of his ONE MORE TIME, I'm gonna throw a shoe!
ReplyDeleteNyuk!
The old gal looks nice, Buck. And at only 53K, she is just now learning what you REALLY like. I'd hang on to her. It's a real pain breaking in a new one...or so I've been told.
Hey (The Other) Andy - What size? Mine are getting kind of old. Wearing them out on the clutch and accelerator of my new Infiniti.
ReplyDeleteYou just had to go there, didn't ya'!
ReplyDeleteNyuk...
"Should I stay or should I go"
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a song from my past:
"Devaise-je m'en aller. ou bien rester?"
Which is the second line of "The Last Waltz" in frog.
The last line before the tears is:
"Ainsi va la vie, tout est bien fini."
Which is:
"Such is life, everything is finished."
Which is not a good translation, as it doesn't have the emotion of having your lover ditch you.
Well, anyway, cars don't have emotions. They are all street women, and emotions are only what is in your wallet.
Go for the comfort. Old age depends on it.
Here's a guy who shows you the tears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSd25I-kC5I
Katy: I have a very good friend in Dee-troit who used to be a powertrain engineer for Cadillac, and he brought some spiffy cars by the house every so often for me to drive... mostly new stuff (mules) Caddy was working on. You'd have LOVED that guy! I hear ya about Caddys, tho. They are generally FINE automobiles.
ReplyDeleteThe old gal looks nice, Buck. And at only 53K, she is just now learning what you REALLY like.
You just HAD to go and say that, dint ya? I've just about made up my mind to go for the Caddy and then ya come along and throw cold water on me...
S-Andy: Did I mention the CTS comes standard with a manual six-speed? It does...
Anon: Mireille's "Last Waltz" is better than that dude's version! But the song's sentiment strikes close to home in other areas of life beyond the automotive. As noted above, I'm leaning VERY heavily towards the Caddy. It might just be a done deal...
Buck, I'm late to this but gotta get my say. I hear you about the noise level of the M. When we were in our early 30's we put 114K on a Pinto, trips to NY, FL, everywhere. It sounded like a D9 Caterpillar. But we were young and our ears were pretty good then. But now, I don't know if we could do that. I'm drawn to the nice quiet Caddy for longer trips and anytime when you want the quiet, but keep the M for those wild (noisy) topless weekends. As for a guy having 3 rides, anybody who complains, I say screw 'em. You've earned it.
ReplyDeleteAw, go ahead on and do it, Buck. You know you want it! I just happen to be a small car guy myself.
ReplyDeleteTGH looks like more fun than a barrel of monkeys to me. The Caddy not so much. But that's just me.
BTW, I didn't mention the nice work those guys did. Very nice. Should be very helpful when you decide to pass her along to the next lover boy/or gal. Cars ain't picky like us.
Thanks for weighing in, Dan. Keeping TGH is a reasonable thing to do, granted. There would be times when nothing would do other than a top-down blast through the mountains. But then again... there's the bike for that kinda thing!
ReplyDeleteL-Andy: I AM torn on this, believe it or don't. TGH has been with me a long, long time and she IS fun. Her next lover... should that come to pass... will more than likely be SN2. He sez he wants it, but my DIL has to buy in. Literally.
Good idear. I'd at least keep that baby in the fambly if at all possible. No use in wasting a fun ride on a stranger.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course I believe you. If you tell me something, I believe it!