Sunday, April 19, 2009

CAR HIJINX

Jaguar - known for its fast and luxurious mobiles, must have realized, as did I, on my test drive yesterday, that they aren't really THAT fast. The 2010 KF will come with not 300, but 380 (CORRECT!) horses under the swept hood. The 2009s will be forgotten, or at least passed by. Wave goodbye to 4.2 liters and shout hello to 5.0! Or maybe you shout CHEERIO, though the British company is now owned by an Indian Company, TaTa motors (no, not the casino guys - the other ones.) This is possibly a presage of the flip of the earth's magnetic poles, as colonial karma has somehow swept into the auto industry.

If you've followed this thread for a couple posts below, you might be interested to learn that the winner (pending the DEAL) is an Audio A6 3.0T. The T is really an S (Supercharger) but Hooked On Teutonics translates that to a T.

By the way, never ever buy a demo car. I know some people who drive them hard.

Since the dealers are all certified numeric-magicians, they play hide the pea under the three cups of LEASE term and rate, Selling PRICE, and TRADE-IN. Within these three foundations of the deal, you can hide any number and 'tailor' debt to fit any qualified circumstance. The principle is easy to explain: When you have hands in three of your pants pockets simultaneously, then you are easily distracted from what is really going on.

"So what number would you expect..." is a common inquiry to get some idea of how to tailor the other variables to match your fantasy (within reason, and subject to TT&L.) My response, "In this economy, a VERY ATTRACTIVE number!"

We've attempted to thwart this sleight of hand: "You get my car, and cash. Tell me the final final final walk-away cost of that car, this color, with these options."

The salesman promised to get back to me with the number on Monday.

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