We have a habit of celebrating our cars' birthdays here at EIP and have done so every year we've been disseminating digital drivel on these here inner-nets, here's one such example:
The first pic is quite the glamor shot, innit? The second? Not so much. I did have a photo-op planned for The Tart, in that I was gonna get her all dolled up and pose her in some exotic locale... like in front of our WPA-era Art Deco courthouse in the dead o' night. Well, the best-laid plans, and all that. The Tart is still waiting for that promised beauty treatment and will continue to wait until the monsoons are over. I ain't gonna get her looking all spiffy only to have her look like death warmed over six hours later.
But anyhoo. She's a year old and here we are. Do I still like her? Yes. Do I have any issues? Yes. Particularly when I see this frickin' ad on my teevee:
And why is that? Simply coz that cheap-ass lil car (about half the cost of The Tart) has a full-color, seven inch LCD screen, built-in voice-activated nav system, a power sunroof, and a heated steering wheel, The Tart having NONE of those. It's not that those things aren't available from Cadillac, they are. It's that all of them are extra-cost options which we did not choose to purchase, bein' thecheap-ass frugal person we are. That said, you'd THINK a company with the audacity of billing itself as "The Standard of the World" would make those sorts o' things... ummm... standard. Or mebbe you'd think the buyer, had he really wanted those things, would have actually bought them.
All nits, however. The basics, after a year's worth o' driving:
The average speed and average fuel economy have both decreased since the six-month report... 45.5 to 43.0 mph and 23.1 mpg to 22.7, respectively. Both of those numbers reflect mostly in-town driving and I believe they're fairly respectable.
My bottom line? I love her... still... and I'm gonna keep her. Everything I said at the six month point holds true: "She's fast (enough), comfortable, quiet, reasonably frugal, and an overall joy to live with. She's also downright freakin' beautiful, mebbe even THE most beautiful car I've ever owned."
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| The Green Hornet on the day I bought her, 2000. |
_+06-20-2012+-+IMG_0526.jpg) |
| The Tart on the day I brought her home. |
But anyhoo. She's a year old and here we are. Do I still like her? Yes. Do I have any issues? Yes. Particularly when I see this frickin' ad on my teevee:
And why is that? Simply coz that cheap-ass lil car (about half the cost of The Tart) has a full-color, seven inch LCD screen, built-in voice-activated nav system, a power sunroof, and a heated steering wheel, The Tart having NONE of those. It's not that those things aren't available from Cadillac, they are. It's that all of them are extra-cost options which we did not choose to purchase, bein' the
All nits, however. The basics, after a year's worth o' driving:
The average speed and average fuel economy have both decreased since the six-month report... 45.5 to 43.0 mph and 23.1 mpg to 22.7, respectively. Both of those numbers reflect mostly in-town driving and I believe they're fairly respectable.
My bottom line? I love her... still... and I'm gonna keep her. Everything I said at the six month point holds true: "She's fast (enough), comfortable, quiet, reasonably frugal, and an overall joy to live with. She's also downright freakin' beautiful, mebbe even THE most beautiful car I've ever owned."
We test drove a KIA Optima and really liked it. If we had not been indecisive on whether we wanted a sedan or a small SUV, we would have bought the KIA that day. We really liked the Sorento also. I'm glad we waited on the Camry. I love it.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to the Tart.
DIL Erma drives an Optima (a 2011 model, IIRC) and she really likes it. I've had occasion to ride for an extended time in that car (from Leavenworth, KS to St. Louis, MO and back) and I think it's quite nice. The fatal flaw with that car: it's a front-driver and Daddy don't do no FWD.
DeleteKIAs feel like they're built from tin. I don't like 'em. I do like the look of The Tart.
ReplyDeleteEven without the 20mm cannon in a turret.
I think if I added that turret it might seriously impact her mileage. We continue to debate that.
Delete22.7 mpg frugal? That's an example of the differences between you over there and us over here. Even round town that's not frugal in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThat's overall mileage, Brian. I'm sure she gets much better mileage over the road.
DeleteHappy Birthday, Tart! Roddy The Wondercar sends his best.
ReplyDelete(The yearly mileage figure, and the fuel economy, are spookily similar to mine, although with Roddy I have to do the math myself. He doesn't tell me shit.)
Do ya think if Roddy and the Tart got together they'd have lil Kias? Prolly, lil Chevy Cobalts, now that I think about it...
DeleteThe Tart is quite the looker, no doubt. As I enter the phase of deciding what my next car will be - The Tart catches my eye very often. But after the winters we've had lately I'm more inclined to a small SUV for myself - AWD if you please. Perhaps a small Jeep or Subaru. We shall see. But I'd love The Tart, no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteA Subaru or other such AWD machine would prolly make more sense, given your location, Kris. SN2 had two Subies when he lived in Maine and still owns one, even as he's moving to DeeSee.
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