Tuesday, July 22, 2008

My New Car

If you've been following along with my car updates, you already know that I finally took ownership of my smart car yesterday. It was very exciting for me, first, I've been waiting to buy one of these for more than 5 years when I first saw them in Europe in 2003, and second, I've been on the waiting list since June of 2007 after they were announced that they would be coming to the United States.

I took a few pictures of the car, so you can see what I am so very excited about.












And of course, parked in the same spot as my scooter, for a valuable size comparison.


Here is a link to the specifications of my specific car.

A basic summary of what I got is:

Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe, yellow body panels and black tridion safety cell. I got two major options installed including the Smart Premium Sound System and the Comfort Package (which includes black leather seats, heated seats, power steering, rain sensing windshield wipers, light sensing headlamps and auto-off headlamps with exit delay).

The closest dealership to us here in Fresno is San Jose, which is about 160 miles (260 km). I made my appointment to pick up my car at 9:00am yesterday morning, which meant both of my brothers and I left at 5:45am to make the appointment time. We got there about half an hour early (the dealership opens at 9am), and I walked the small lot and figured out which car was mine. It was great to be able to finally see it.

On the way home my brothers and I headed up to Palo Alto to the IKEA there, and had lunch and did a little bit of shopping. On the way back I gave both of my brothers an opportunity to drive my new car for about 40 miles each.

It is amazing at how many people rubber neck and stare at my car as they drive by me or are just standing beside the road. Most people have not seen anything like this before, even though there are approximately 5 Smart Cars in Fresno already. As well, without fail every time I go somewhere I have at least one person stop me and ask me questions. I've also gotten a few waves and thumbs up from different people as I drive by.

I have yet to name my new car, but I have decided to wait and spend a little more time with it before I make any decisions. I also must decide the gender before I can name it. Right now though, I am leaning towards my car being a boy.






4 comments:

Alex said...

If it's a boy you could get a pair of those "truck nuts" things to hang from it. Really, I think those things are stupid, but if I had a Smart car, I'd be tempted to buy a pair.

nicholasfriesen said...

luckyyyyyyyyyyyyy... I want one. the question is, which is more fun to drive? the scooter or the smart car?

Anonymous said...

I like Hugo

Anonymous said...

ok, now that you've had a little time to bond with it, what do you think?

it felt strange at first, but i've gotten used to it -- definitely a fun car, especially pulling those tight little u-turns! and there's nothing as jarring as seeing how tiny the car is next to everything else.

oh, almost 290 miles and still on the first tank. love it!