New addition to the family

[Seminole]

So my girlfriend used to drive a 2001 Toyota Corolla CE that she got used back in high school. About 3 weeks ago the car started to have issues with the oil and check engine light coming on constantly. We brought it to Toyota and it turns out she had engine sludge. Cost to repair, $5,300 for a used engine with 60,000 miles or $7,500 to take apart the engine and rebuild it. Another independent body shop confirmed the diagnosis. The car isn't even worth close to any of those two numbers, and although it could still run (for how long nobody could tell us) we decided the best thing would to do would be to just get a new car.

After 2 weeks of looking around and having me chauffeur her all over town, she just picked up her brand new car today, a 2009 Urban Titanium Metallic Honda Civic LX auto. This is the first NEW car she has ever owned and was really excited. The car had 27 miles on it, and the first thing we did was bring it home, take off all the dealer badges, and give it a really good wash and wax. I can't remember the last time I've seen her this giddy. I'm going to go to Honda tomorrow and pick up some accessories for her car as a "congratulations" present, and I need to see if I can find some OEM alloy wheels to replace her steelies with.

I had the chance to drive it a little bit tonight, and I must say, I was very impressed. It is one solid little car. I really enjoyed the two tier dash, and aside from a little bit of loud road noise over harsh roads, the car was whisper silent. No rattles or anything (I can't say the same for my car which was more than 2x more expensive). I was able to get her a great deal too, MSRP of $18,895 and out the door for $15,962 with her trade in. Here are some pictures of my girlfriend signing the paperwork, getting the keys, and her new baby. Sorry for the iPhone pics.

[Bimmer Nerd]

wow, you seem more excited then her lol congrats to your GF on a new car.

[just4kickz]

nice civic. don't know about that color tho

[Garduna]

it's always nice getting a brand new fresh car congrats to you and ur gf

[Year's_End]

an '06 civic es coupe tops out at 125mph. this guy knows.

[yeefoo335]

congrats amazing how people are still buying cars in this economy i know 3 people that just bought a car this week and about 4 or 5 more that are in the market to buy and are still searching. congrats again way to boost the economy haha keep buying cars everyone!

[blue2fire]

Nice Car.

[methodtim]

Congrats to you and your girl.

She looks to be all of 4'11".

[omgitselainee]

Awwwww isn't it a nice feeling seeing someone you care / love for so "giddy" ?? I'm sure it was very exciting for the both of you

[Epik]

Yep it is a solid little car. I like the gauge cluster design on those things.

The color might look better in person

[methodtim]

I think Seminole is officially color blind. It's the only explanation for why he drives a bronze bimmer.

[BillLee]

congrats to her. your gf is pretty

[DakarE36]

Originally Posted by BillLee

congrats to her. your gf is pretty

+1

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by godora

wow, you seem more excited then her lol congrats to your GF on a new car.

Haha, I am excited, but not as much as her. Since I like cars, any new shiny thing to play with excites me. But I am really happy for her because she was driving around that beater Corolla for a long time and she did her best to take care of it, unlike a lot of the people around here who have nice cars and don't care at all. So I know she really treasures it and is going to take excellent care of it.

Originally Posted by yeefoo335

congrats amazing how people are still buying cars in this economy i know 3 people that just bought a car this week and about 4 or 5 more that are in the market to buy and are still searching. congrats again way to boost the economy haha keep buying cars everyone!

I know. I was chatting with the guy who sold us the car and he said that sales are actually starting to pick up and they sold more cars in January of this year than January last year. If her car wasn't so close to death I think she would have held off on getting a new car.

But the dealer was a joy to deal with. Gave us a quote of $500 under invoice right off the bat. They even quoted us under invoice on a 2009 Fit, which from what I've researched usually goes for close to MSRP. We paid cash for it, so that helped out with the negotiating a little bit as well

Originally Posted by methodtim

I think Seminole is officially color blind. It's the only explanation for why he drives a bronze bimmer.

Haha, she picked the color not me, but I do like it a lot. It is kind of like my Platinum Bronze, the color changes a lot depending on what light is in. It looks like a dark purple gray in those pictures because it was cloudy and under the overhang. In direct sunlight it looks like a really light gray with a hint of gold. It is one of those colors that pictures don't do justice to until you see it in person. Plus, it is a brand new color for the facelifted 09's, so there aren't that many of them on the road. Oh, and she's actually about 5'4" or so.

Originally Posted by BillLee

congrats to her. your gf is pretty

Thanks! Best part is she didn't ask for a promise ring! J/K





Here are some more pictures with my car which needs to be cleaned (doing it tomorrow):







Here you can really see the color variation across the back of the car:




Even though this isn't a great quality picture, this was taken when the sun was shining on it at sundown and you can see the gold in it:


And here is the press shots of the color:

[methodtim]

I know it must be an optical illusion, but the Civic almost looks bigger than your 3er.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by methodtim

I know it must be an optical illusion, but the Civic almost looks bigger than your 3er.

It's hard to tell but the Civic is actually about 1.5 inches smaller. The greenhouse is larger though and it has smaller overhangs so it looks bigger.