Test Drives and Tantrums

Over the weekend, the family and I jumped in the car and headed out for our normal morning biscuit, followed by taking our first look at several of the vehicles on our short list for replacing one of our aging chariots.

Our first stop was at the Saturn dealership, where we were greeted in the stereotypical car dealership fashion by the very friendly, anxious, young, salesman before I could even get my son out of the car. That was fine and we were prepared, a decade in sales has made me less than their favorite target these days...
We exchanged pleasantries and I let him know why were interested in the VUE Hybrid in spite of the price difference (everywhere we went we were steered/pushed from the hybrid to the regular version), after a little sales of my own we hopped into one of their 6 hybrid VUE's and went down the road...
My impressions of the Saturn--It was more like a car than the Escape we'd see later, nice finish, quiet at highway speeds, but the smallish cargo area and lack of a spare tire were definitely downers. Like the looks and feel enough to keep it in the running and I also think that since they had so many and were pushing so hard to the regular VUE, this could be had at a bargain if we are able to wait to model year end as planned.

Next stop was more about me, we went to Village Volkswagen and there, front and center was what I had come to see, the new VW CC, I think I like it a little more every time I see it. This dealership was just expanded and relocated recently and is very nice, along with their Audi store next door. The salesman was the best "sales"man I met that day and it didn't hurt that I like VW's and this one in particular...
About the CC--It has a striking low slung sports car look even with the four doors, it reminds me a bit of the Mercedes CLS500, but with a little less slope in the rear and at less than half the price. The back seat is definitely not meant for a guy my size, and even my wife would be uncomfortable for a trip any longer than downtown Chattanooga and back. This is a drivers car, tight handling, rapid acceleration, typical VW combination of form and function, this is an all around VERY good car, just not right if you need regular adult usage of the rear seats. I enjoyed the 6 speed manual and only option I'd add is the sunroof (which is HUGE). It will be tough for this one to get knocked from the top of my wish list...but I also can't justify the 21 mpg city mileage so it will remain on the wish list, not in my garage.

Our last two stops were back in Cleveland at Larry Hill Ford and then Gray Epperson Mazda, we were looking primarily for the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute, with an additional hope for more info on exact availability date for the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. What we got was the worst reinforcement of the South I've seen in some time...
We were informed that they hadn't sold an Escape Hybrid since 2006, and the sales guy repeatedly questioned our interest and pushed the regular Escape... they seemed clueless about the new Fusion Hybrid, but were happy to push a "fuel efficient" 2009 Fusion.
In spite of this, we took an Escape out for a test drive and it performed capably, but I was surprised that it wasn't as quiet, tight, or generally refined as the VUE, it was more Truck like, though it did have a little more cargo room...and a spare tire. We'll keep our eyes open and hold judgement until the new Fusion comes out...

Most likely result of all this is that my wife will likely get a used Escape Hybrid, I'll probably get a used Prius and we'll probably get both...HERE.