what am I driving?

I suppose this post was inevitable.  I mean, after the previous two posts, I couldn't just leave things hanging there, could I?

So which car did I ultimately choose?  Behind the first door was a used but practically brand new Lexus IS 350.  The second door led to a brand new Volvo S40 with five years of free maintenance.  Choosing the third door would have given me a Prius with unsurpassed fuel economy.  What to do...

I was pretty much torn between the Volvo and the Lexus (sorry Prius, you were a distant third).  A friend suggested I went with my gut feeling.  So I sat quietly on my couch during the long commercials while watching Roger Federer destroy his opponents at the U.S. Open and listened to my gut.  Nothing.  I poked on my belly at little, hoping to prod it into life.  I first giggled reflexively like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  Then I waited.  Still nothing.  This isn't working.

Then another friend suggested that I crunch out the numbers - which one would cost me more on gas, insurance, maintenance fees, etc.  I knew from the beginning that the Lexus would cost much more, and that was the way in turned out.  But even then, I wasn't pursuaded that this was the right way to go.  

I decided to use my brain - not the part responsible for calculations, but the calm and collected part that has displayed great sense in the past, which not to infrequently was then trumped by the anxious, emotional part.  I asked myself:  what do I need this car for?  The key here is need, not want.  I need a car that gets me safely from A to B.  A smaller car that allows me to find parking more easily.  A car that doesn't have extraneous gadgets that I won't use (and pay extra for).  I came to a conclusion quickly this way.  The Volvo C30.

Wait a minute, what!?  When was the C30 in the picture?  Oh, that's right, I test drove it as a substitute for the turbo S40.  Cousin Elmer had told me that I would be a fool if I didn't test drive the turbo if I was already thinking about the S40.  I just never thought I would need or want a car with greater horsepower.  The dealer didn't have one of the latter in store, so he recommended that I test drive the C30 because it's basically the same engine.  I loved the drive and was immediately hooked - going uphill and onto a freeway were much more effortlessly done than with my old Volvo.  The C30 is very compact - a two-door hatchback.  I had always disliked coupes for the reason that it would be inconvenient for the third person to get into the car.  I asked myself how often I have a third person in the car (or even a second person, for the matter).  It was an easy answer.

So that's what happened.  I bought a Volvo.  A coupe.  A turbo.  In white.  All things which I didn't want in the beginning.  Go figure.  It has been a week since the purchase, and I'm loving it more and more.  The fuel economy isn't as great as I would have liked, but still...  I can live with it.

Just need to train my gut.  Maybe I need to feed it even more.

P.S. Thanks to my friend Joe for these pictures.