26 December 2008

fit is pants

gf and i went to test drive cars today, for her. the destination was Fletcher-Jones in chicago, who sells VW, Audi and Honda in the same building (and Mercedes across the street).

we were treated to a Honda salesman trashing VW's, and a VW salesman trashing Hondas. pretty big turnoff, i must say. and i've had my own run-ins with their service dept, so i couldn't recommend anyone getting their car serviced there, either.

even more ridiculous, they refused to let us test drive a Jetta TDi, because, according to them, they only had 1, TDi's are in high demand, and they "didn't want to put any mileage on it." eh? if they're in such high demand, i don't see why they'd have any trouble selling one with 17 miles on it as opposed to 14. hrumph.

so we were happy to take out two of their cars anyway, a Rabbit and a Fit. note that in both test drives i was merely a rear seat occupant, but we arrived at the same conclusion:

Rabbit = great fun
Fit = pants

in the Fit, i was hyper-aware i was in an econo-box. i was very aware of the fact that we were all in same space, separated only by a seatback. in the Rabbit, i really did feel some ownership of the backspace area.

and the roadfeel couldn't be much more different. my VW @ 10 years takes bumps better than a new Fit.

downside of the Rabbit, as gf tells me, are:
1. mileage
2. non-availability of a manual on the 4-door

and i'll add:
3. no engine choices

So the Rabbit emerges as the only viable option today. The Fit is right out.

next up: Mini Cooper (S? not sure)

1 comment:

JustJoeP said...

I second your back seat comment on the fit's backseat, but when I test drove it, and got all over it on curvy farm roads and I-10 on ramps, it was a ton of fun to drive. I knew I'd not be in the back seat, unless I was passed out.