My new car

(click on the pics for a larger version)
I've kept this under wraps. My wife has been on my ass for a while now to replace t3h battl3 wag00n with something newer and more reliable. I was looking into some used cars. Mostly American cars, but considered anything on the market that was on the small side, two doors, gets good gas mileage, and has a manual shift. Blue preferred, but not required. I had whittled down my list to two Ford Focuses (ummm, should that be Foci for plural?).

That is, until Ford offered the Family Plan incentive. That sealed the deal. I searched the dealer inventories in my area and found exactly the car I wanted. 2005 Focus ZX3 SE. It pretty much loaded to the gills. Sonic blue, 3 door, 5 speed, 15 inch "nine star rims," power brakes, abs, power steering, dohc, 4 air-bags, bucket seats, grey interior, power windows / locks, alarm system, shift light, etc., etc. The only options it doesn't have are: leather, sunroof, and traction control. No biggie, not a huge fan of any of those anyway. But I will be getting about 35 mpg on the highway. That should be a sweet savings over the lifetime 20 mpg of the wag00n.

I tested it out with my brother, Roger, last Thursday. Put a down payment, got the ball rolling, and picked it up on Saturday morning, first thing.

Stacey had NO CLUE. I pulled it into the driveway and she came out the door shaking her head with a big smile. She was shacked that I made the plunge. I was never a fan of new cars and she knew it. In addition she was discussing with her parent the night before that I'd likely never get a new car. Boy was she surprised.

So, the car had 19 miles on it when I test drove it, and I'm beyond 125 miles already. I'm loving every moment of complete control over the car with the manual shift. I didn't realize what I was missing out on all these years.