Sunday, May 23, 2010

Car Update

First things first: thanks to my less-than-clear "Scrooge" remark in my last point, some of you mistakenly thought that *I* was the one who wanted a new car. Not so. I'm the Scrooge, whereas John has wanted a new car pretty much since birth. So sorry for the confusion, and for besmirching John's good name.

Ok, on to the update!

As you may have surmised, we've been car-shopping this past week. I even have the farmer's tan and frayed patience to show for it.

"What's wrong with this car? This one right here? I'll tell you what's wrong with this car, Mr. Pushy Car Salesman: I can't reach the pedals or see over the steering wheel. Yeah, that's right, I'M SHORT. Thanks for pretending not to notice. Now, lead me to your ridiculously tiny Hobbit cars, lay off the smirking, and we'll get along just fine."



I'm not generally that crabby, but for some reason it's approximately three thousand degrees in the shade right now here in Florida, and there is no such thing as shade on a car lot. I'm convinced this is a sales tactic.

"Aw, are you guys hot? Yeah? Well, I'd be glad to get you some nice, ice-cold water, if you'd care to accompany me back into the sales office and, say, fill out some paperwork."

Frankly, it almost worked. We were dripping sweat and *this* close to closing the deal on a decent car - one that was the identical brand and color of our old car, how sad is that? - when we decided we should probably take it for a test drive.

The car had "leather" seats. Sure, they claimed it was actual leather, but after baking in the three thousand degree sun all day it was more like "molten lava," and instantly adhered to any exposed flesh. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing shorts; otherwise most of my epidermal layer would still be in there. As it was, John and I emerged ten minutes later looking like we'd stood with our backs to a fire hose. Yeah. Yuck.

Living in Florida, we knew this would be the MO if we bought that car. So, we didn't. The sales guy? Yeah. Not so happy about that. A few of his remarks:

"But, it's leather!"

"Ok, sure, it's gonna be hot. But after you get going with the air blasting, it will cool down eventually."


"Leather is a luxury!"

"You think this is hot? I lived in [fill in state here]. Now THAT's hot. This is nothing."
(I'm still a little fuzzy on how this was supposed to make us want the car, but there you go.)

"It's LEATHER. You know how much that costs? This is a bargain."

And so on.

Despite all that, I'm pleased to tell you that this story does have a happy ending: Did you know they make orange cars? With cloth seats? That you can buy? And then you can own an orange car with cloth seats?!?

Ok, so maybe that's not a news flash. Still, after driving oh-so-practical 4-door sedans for most of my life, it was a real thrill to find and buy an ORANGE not-quite-as-practical 4-door sedan. And it'll be much easier to find in parking lots.

But the best part?

No more car shopping.

Can I get an "amen"?



UPDATE: Ok, ok! I'll post a picture already!

Mmmm, orangey goodness...

I didn't post a pic earlier because I was afraid it would look like bragging. When I explained this to John, he started laughing. "Jen," he said, "It's a KIA." So, um, yeah, here 'tis. (No offense meant towards Kia, either; this is by far the nicest car I've ever owned.)

113 comments:

  1. Amen.
    Another Floridan here. Leather or leather-ish seats are not a bargain. A car that pre-cooled itself before I got in would be a priceless at any price.

    Dianne

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  2. Oh yeah I live in texas Leather and vinyl not such a great idea especially if it is dark colour

    No pic posted I want to see this skittle colored vehicle or is it more of the burnt orange colour??

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  3. Yes you CAN get an amen! AMEN.

    Also... picture of your new car! I WANTS IT. Good on you for avoiding that sneaky leather. I'm from south Texas, and lemme tell ya... leather sucks :(

    Have I told you I love your new blog? Because I do <3

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  4. The only way leather is great in a car is if it is super old... I drove a 20 year old Lincoln (Grandpa's!) and the leather seats were sooooo comfy and not sticky or anything.


    Marisa

    P.S. Yay Orange!

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  5. That's pretty funny. I happen to have a friend who also lives in Florida and bought an orange mazda.

    I absolutely despise car shopping. I think this is why I drive my cars for about 10-15 years at a crack. A woman smashed into my car a few weeks ago and totaled it. So, needless to say - car shopping in a HUGE time crunch is even worse! :(

    Glad you found one you are happy with!!

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  6. I'd love an orange car! We need pictures.

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  7. The line about the 'epidural' layer had me cracking up. I'm sure you wanted an epidural to alleviate the scalding of your epidermal layers though ;)

    As for car shopping, I'm right there with you. I'm lucky enough to be able to use public transit, but I once flirted with the idea of getting a car. Two car lot visits later, I nigh on kissed my transit access card and renewed it. I've since been tempted to go back a few times, but stories like yours remind me of the horror and keep me away.

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  8. Leather seats are NOT for Florida. No way. WAY too hot here for that.

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  9. Amen. One of our cars is getting old and I dread the thought of looking for another. It doesn't help that I LOVE that car...

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  10. Worse than leather was the heavy vinyl they used to make seats out of, back in the 50s and 60s (seemed to be getting better by the 70s.)

    Not only did it get hot (or stiff and crunchy in the winter at 20 below) but unlike leather it was not even remotely porous. Need some skin graft after riding in that puppy.

    Of course, then you had an excuse to buy fake fur seat covers in leopard print, so there WAS an upside.

    Noni

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  11. Amen! And I am reminded of the They Might Be Giants song "Pleather", used in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial some years back.

    The backs of my legs
    Sticking to the pleather

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  12. I'm Canadian, but our Summers are just as scorching as our Winters are cold, and I totally understand why leather is a bad idea. Especially if your air conditioning is busted. And especially if it's black leather in a black car. Bad idea.

    I'm very jealous! We love orange vehicles, if we had seen an orange SUV we probably would have bought it instead of our blue one! But I do love my blue one.

    Glad you got a car! And being orange makes it even better!

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  13. AMEN! I love how the salesman pushed the whole leather thing. Like that makes the car run better or something. :P I bet it had metal knobs too!

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  14. I'm with you on the short issue. I'm 5'2". When I went to buy my first car there were some that I never even test drove because they didn't pass the basic test of "can I reach the gas pedal AND see over the steering wheel AT THE SAME TIME?" (what a concept!)

    I also understand the leather issue. I can tell you from experience that leather is not better when it's cold out either. My parents have a car with leather seats. The seats are always freezing in the winter and scalding in the summer. I hope you enjoy driving your new ORANGE car. May you drive it safely for many years to come. Oh, and don't forget to have the oil changed! :)

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  15. AMEN, sistah! Congrads (had to do it) on the new orange-mobile.

    I am having the same leather seat convo with my husband. We live in TX. Leather is too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and it cracks, eventually. I'll stay with cloth, thanks. "But.. but.. leather is luxury!" :eyeroll:

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  16. Thread is useless without pics. :)

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  17. I'm a Marylander, but I totally see the silliness of leather seats in Florida. I think I'd rather have a bright purple car, but orange? Still pretty awesome!!! Congrats on your new car!

    PS.-Amen!

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  18. That's awesome! Congrats on the new car! I live in TX and leather is so NOT a luxury in the summer.

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  19. As a short vegan who loves orange, I think the new car sounds awesome! However, the salesman's arguments for leather are all really compelling.

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  20. I also have an orange car with cloth seats. I love it, and a major plus is that you can't lose it in a parking lot. Orange sticks out in a sea of beige and blue cars.

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  21. I love your car! I think it suits you both quite well... I hope you are both working on naming for it :-p

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  22. Congrats on the new car!

    If the windows are rolled up and the car is sitting in a parking lot, leather is hot no matter what state you are in. I know this because I am in Ohio and there are times my back gets burned getting in my car.

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  23. THis is why we should be friends. Just seeing an orange car would make me happy. Oh, and I have an orange bike.

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  24. It's always nice to find out you're not alone in the world. When my Hubbs insisted I needed a new car, I wasn't going for it. Then that brilliant man showed me a boxy yet curvy orange dream and I fell in love. I can always find it in the parking lot and it's just the right size to accommodate my three children and my hobbityness.

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  25. I have not-so-fond memories of my grandmother's Chrysler with leather seats when I was little...in the summer we stuck to the seats and in the winter they were so cold it was like sitting on a block of ice. I'd take an orange car with cloth seats any day!

    (By the by, love the new blog!) :)
    Chanda

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  26. Amen!

    I have an orange HHR. That's the bigger Chevy version of the PT Cruiser that you see on the road. It's orange, orangey orange. I love it so much.

    I'd REALLY like to get the horn customized to play Dixie, paint an 01 on the side and put a Confederate flag on top, but convincing my wife to let me have an orange car at all was hard enough.

    And besides, the HHR's windows are so small you can barely even SEE through them, let alone slide in through them.

    But I still hum, "Just some good ol' boys..." as I get in.

    She hasn't caught me yet.

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  27. Fabulous on the car find! Is it by chance a HHR? I know there are orange ones with cloth seats, 'cause I have the purple version. Oh so happy!

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  28. Orange car! I win!

    (This is what my kids say whenever they see an orange car. And that's the extent of the game. Orange car-I win!)

    I lived in FL the first 25 years of my life. You couldn't pay me to drive a car there with anything but cloth seats. I remember having to open the car doors and wait until the hot, shimmery air in the car billowed out and then using whatever scrap of cloth I could find to protect my hands from the steering wheel! Blecch.. keep your leather seats, Car Salesmen!

    Do they have CarMax down there? I love CarMax.. no pressure car sales!

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  29. Another Floridian here. I agree: We need to see a pic!!

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  30. Orlando area here. Don't know why they even sell leather seats in Florida. I have an opposite issue from you though - I'm 5'11", and they only want to show me small cars that I can't fold up into. I hate car shopping!

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  31. Oh, the part about the air conditioner really got me. I remember when we bought our car and the man was just RAVING about how cool the air conditioner was (which it wasn't really). To this day whenever we turn on the air my husband does this hilarious imitation of the salesman's pitch. "Ahh, you feel that cool arctic breeze right there (as 100 degree heat flies out of air conditioner). Brr! Need a Jacket?" :p

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  32. Joining the clamor for pics here...

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  33. hey Jen i hate to be the bearer of bad news....its the Epidermal layer of the skin not the Epidural layer..it's ok i know that the heat got to you and its 4am.

    Radu "Lunch Box" Isai

    P.S: thank you for what you do

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  34. Amen!
    Oh cool, I love orange cars! It doesn't really matter to me whether it has leather car seats to me, I find it makes my hair go static and it (of course) stick to everything.:P Love this post!

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  35. A girl of my own heart!! I dream of owning a not very practical orange car one day. But right now.... it's my POC red minivan that hates me.

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  36. An orange car just cries for mohawk baby carrot jockey doo-dads.

    wv: throthe
    Jen and John throte there was no fun new car for them until they saw the super-cool orange jobbie.

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  37. john (the hubby of Jen)May 23, 2010 at 12:06 PM

    Calivet4life,

    Heheh. Whoops!

    john

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  38. sounds like a winner of a car!!!
    do we get to see it?

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  39. I have an old Buick Rainier, the car the sales people couldn't pronounce or spell. It isn't cool and never was. But I'm a little person, 5' ,110lbs and my husband is average size 5'10" or so. This car will push you into the dash if you want the seat up that far and the seat is programmed to the keys. So when I put my key in the seat is way up front and when he gets in it's not. I'm never getting rid of it!
    Being short and car shopping sucks!

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  40. I hear you on the shortness ~ when we went car shopping the last time for my car the salesman was trying to ooohhh and aaahhhh me with tales of safety features and motors falling on impact or something like that. I calmly explained the two things that concerned me...not having to climb up into a car and being able to reach the pedals without adding extenders. All else was gravy.

    And on a sidenote ~ I did have a small accident in my car and my first thoughts were not recalling any of the fabulous safety features my car was equipped with. It was mostly me thinking..."aaaaaaawwwwww craaaaaaap" and other things along those lines.

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  41. Amen!

    We recently bought a used car, and got suckered by the extended warranty. We'd decided not to get it, but the guy put it on the contract anyway. "Oh, it's not that much more. I'll have to re-do everything if you don't want it, though." This just after we had spent a good half hour doing paperwork & signing things.

    I had buyer's remorse later, and went back and got it taken off. The guy was a wimp once it was clear I wasn't putting up with anything more.

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  42. "whereas John has wanted a new car pretty much since birth."

    I'm going to have to start using this to describe my husband.

    Also, if they can make heated seats I think they need to make cooled seats for just these kinds of reasons.

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  43. No use for leather seats in summer or winter where I live. Leather seats mean sitting on a towel or a blanket 3/4 of the year, which is a fabulous look for the money! :P

    And I don't CARE how easy it is to clean up spills, my kids only tend to spill on the floor anyway.

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  44. Bleh! I hate the leather arguments. I live in Phoenix so it's a mystery to me why they even try to sell cars with leather interior in this town, but they do, and the sales people push them on you.

    I'm too busy being burned by the steering wheel and seatbelt to worry about being burned by the frickin SEAT, thank you very much.

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  45. So... Can we see a picture of the carrot car? :D /puppy eyes

    Are you gonna hang some Babies with mohawks on the mirror?! Orange scented fresheners!? Orange drinks in the cup holders?! OH THE POSSIBILITIES OF AN ORANGE CAR!

    ....Sorry, got carried away there.

    Pics please!

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  46. An orange car, I am so jealous. I love my new car in many ways, but it's black, and thus looks very grown up and serious, so not me. I am thinking of adding some cool daisy decals I saw on etsy.

    I hope you really enjoy your new car.

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  47. What, no pic?

    I'm soooo jealous you guys got an orange car. I wanted an orange car but the Toyota I bought didn't come in that color. :(

    I live in Mobile, AL and I definitely knew I wanted cloth seats just for the same reason you did: I like my leg skin to adhere to my body.

    Enjoy the new wheels!

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  48. Pictures?? Congrats on the new car! =)

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  49. love your posts! word to the wise, kias are notorious for not being the best of cars (i own one and can attest to that fact!) so be suuure to keep up with your oil changes. though hopefully you wouldn't be forgetting much anymore regardless of the vehicle =p

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  50. Yay for a new car! Is that a Forte? We just bought one a few months ago and looooooooooove it :) Enjoy!

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  51. @rufus

    Love the mental image!!! Sorry the windows are too small. :( Just keep humming softly to yourself & she'll never know. LOL.

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  52. I *hate* leather seats for exactly that reason! (and also - up here in the frigid north during the winter you'll freeze your ass off when you sit down on 'em)

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  53. We must have been car shopping in Florida at the same time... we bought a beautiful sparkly red car on Saturday - almost melted doing it in the FL heat. I have the opposite problem - I am fairly tall. Some cars I felt like a giant in midget land...

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  54. I happen to love Orange, my house is orange on the outside :)

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  55. I hear you about the color. I've always had blue or white cars, and the most recent is red - what a difference! I can find it in a parking lot! Even though it's tiny.

    Next time you think you'll be in a shadeless place for any length of time, carry an umbrella. They're not just for breakfa... er, I mean rain any more. ;-)

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  56. Live in South Texas, grew up in South Louisiana. I passed on the car with leather seats too. The salesman tried the same line of reasoning with me but I held out for a car with cloth seats. To me, luxury is keeping my skin on my legs.

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  57. I love how the Google ads are all about oil changes and Kias now. It cracks me up.

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  58. I must come to the defense of Leather seats in FL for one reason and one reason only...KIDS. It's a breeze to wipe up a mess made with a supposedly "spillproof" sippy cup filled with apple juice. I'll take my occasional burnt booty (hence why I wear Capri's) for NOT having to scrub like madwoman on carpet seats.

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  59. Jen, love your new blog! You are hilarious (I'm sure that's intended). Every once in a while (actually, quite often) you'll write something and I'll swear that I wrote it! It's like you're my long lost twin or something. You like so many of the same things that I do it's scary. lol

    And just one more thing. Your new car is KYOOOT! Congratulations!

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  60. Cute car, Jen! I'm loving the orange.

    But um...just try and remember to change its oil now and again. :)

    ~Misty

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  61. I'm short & have a 2007 mellow yellow Mini Cooper.

    LOVE, LOVE LOVE IT!

    The Yellow is Fantastic and the car is geat!

    Kathy

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  62. Awesome! I have the same car in black. Didn't think about the fact that I lived in the desert though....

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  63. That is a pretty car. And I lived in Florida ugh that humidity was horrible. Not to mention those giant tarantula like spiders that kept getting inside. Anywhoo at least you won't stick to the seats lol.

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  64. I like to think it would smell exactly like a creamsicle.

    Congratulations, you guys!

    Don't forget to change the oil! ;)

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  65. YAY!!! Boo on the leather! I live in Texas, leather seats is like asking to not have epidermis tomorrow.

    I also have a kia. And I luffs it. <3

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  66. ari from australiaMay 24, 2010 at 4:50 AM

    As a person who used to work full time doing door-to-door sales on commission only, I have to feel bad for the poor sales guy...to get so close and trip at the finish line! Ouch, from experience!

    But you definitely made the right choice going for the car that works for you, and it's a niiiiice car!

    Happy vrooming!

    ari from australia

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  67. Amen!!!
    As another Floridian, I can tell you, my mother's leather seats in her 9 year old car are not looking their best anymore. This is partly because she has to park outside and does not have tinted windows.
    Hooray for your new car!!! Very happy for you! :)

    And an amen to Tamara's idea of a pre-cooled car! How great would that be? No melting makeup as you wait for the freezy breeze to get to the chilly level and not just circulating more volcano air.

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  68. Oh i'm with you on the car shopping, we got a new and much needed vehicle that our whole family could fit in ( not all of us would fit in our accord, we have a baby,6 yrold and a teenager ) so I made my husband do the shopping around, he picked a few out I went and looked at those then decided, he did all the paperwork and I got to drive it home! Maybe you should do car cakes to celebrate this special occassion? LOL! Congratulations on the new car... they are so fun arent' they?

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  69. I totally hear you on the "short" bit. Thankfully so far I've been spared car shopping since my car was a hand-me-down from my grandfather. He wasn't much taller than me so it's just the right size. :)
    I personally would never go for orange (a classmate of mine in college actually referred to that particular shade as "metallic pumpkin") but that car seems very 'you.' Enjoy! :)

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  70. Haha. I feel you. Florida Summer = Hot. Getting in and out of people-sized EasyBake ovens in the shapes of cars for hours during the heat of the day (Note to self: Are you crazy? GO AT NIGHT; they're open till' 9, anyways :D!)? = Well, fine fellows, I believe my liver is cooked through and through and all hope for hydration is lost. :D Congrats on the new car! It looks beautiful, leather or no.

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  71. Congrats on the new car! Its very cute! I test drove a forte a few months back and loved it! I'm only 5'2 and it was a great fit!
    And I dont know about the bad wrap Kias get. The Beau has a 99 Sephia and it has 250K miles and has been a great car! Its never had any major problems and he actually uses it as a race car now. Same with my aunt, she loved hers and drove it to the ground! Hope yours is great for you!

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  72. Ooooh. Me likey.

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  73. ORANGE! I've always wanted an orange vehicle.

    I recently had to go car shopping, but did it over the internet. Found something for $925, and fell in love with it.

    And leather seats in Florida sucks. I have issues with no air, but who the heck makes leather seats in FL? I didn't even know it was possible.

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  74. I like the orange car. Very cool. I don't car what name it has, as long as it runs. :) Kia shmia. Enjoy your new car!

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  75. I totally get the frayed patience part. I recently went car shopping too. The new active headrests are at the perfect angle to force my head down (and I'm not THAT short!). The only way around this is to sit on a pillow, and then I can't reach the pedals. The salesmen (6 ft tall) either looked confused when I explained the problem, or said "Is that a problem for you?". One even suggested just removing the headrest. Why let a little thing like safety stand in the way of a sale!

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  76. Hooray on the new car! My car is pretty tiny ('91 Honda Civic SI hatchback), so when I need to find it in a crowded parking lot, I look for the parking space that appears to be empty...9 times out of 10 it's where I parked!

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  77. I love the color! I was wanting one in this color when I was forced to go car shopping (I can come up with a few more steps for how to hose a car!), but never found one I liked in my price range. How's the ride in a KIA?

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  78. We love our Kia, although of course my husband had to have the black one with leather seats (We live in Louisiana...not a good idea.) What did I have to have? Sun shades for the windows. Yes.

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  79. you know, while thats an awesome color for a car.. those diet mountain dew bottles that end up in the back seat are gonna clash horribly!..just saying

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  80. oh I like the car! love the colour!

    also as a fellow hobbit i was muchly amused so thanks for a good laugh

    Uli

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  81. Jen,
    Because I am an avid reader of both your blogs...I would like to give you a little warning from a fellow Kia owner.
    Do NOT forget any of it's regular maintenance. I bought one with a whole seven miles on it three years ago....and it's a good thing it has it's warranty....and make sure you replace the timing belt EARLY.
    Other than that, congrats,
    I love reading you!!!!

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  82. It is very perty-ful! Congratulations! It sorta reminds me of a color-changing-in-the-sun G.I. Joe that I appropriated from my little brother when I was younger. In a good way. :o)

    wv: inisk: the sound your skin makes as you rip it off of vinyl/leather seats in summer!

    Andrea

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  83. I LOVE my Kia. It's a 2001 Sephia (looks a lot like yours) and no complaints at all!!! I do keep up with the oil changes though ;). The brakes seems to go a little quickly, but it could be the way I drive. Really, I love it and hope you're as happy with yours!!

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  84. I love it!!
    I just got a brand new KIA minivan on May 8th. I LOVE KIA! We used to be a Toyota family, but Kia's are way more affordable!
    Congratulations!!

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  85. Oh man, even in New York leather seats are miserable. I burned my tush today on the leather seats in my fiance's car. Ow.

    Also, orange car = WIN. I love it!

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  86. Soooo cute! Oh, and by the way, I totally agree about the leather. Even though I live in Oregon, I'm totally annoyed with leather because you either burn your skin in the summer or just die from the cold shock in the winter. Seriously, how do cows live with it?? ;)

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  87. Cute car, even if it does appear to be "Texas Orange". (Can you tell I'm from Oklahoma?) ;) BTW - do NOT be fooled into complacently thinking that because it is orange, people will automatically see it and you are safe from other people stupidly running into it and causing you emotional distress and car inconvenience. I bought a yellow car thinking that very same thing. I obviously underestimated peoples' capacity for stupidity, because I have been hit three times (none of which were even remotely my fault). Each time, the other driver said, "Oh! I didn't see you!" I just want to say, "Dude! It's bright yellow. Are you completely blind or just so self-absorbed that you forget there is anyone on the road but you?" But... I don't want to jinx you. Just don't be surprised if people are stupid.

    WV: Bratho - Bratho on buying a new car. :)

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  88. Oh - and don't be surprised if your friends start referring to your car as the "orange crate". That's what we used to call the orange car a friend of mine had. But it can still be your "orange crush". ;)

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  89. It's such a pretty orange too! Yay!

    I still don't know what the big deal is with leather seats. They are molten lava in the summer and than freezing ice cubes in the winter. There is NO happy medium with them.

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  90. It's not your fault you're short--gravity just likes you better than everyone else!

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  91. I have an Orange car too (an Aveo) and yes, it is super easy to find in a parking lot. Plus you feel kind of snazzy driving around in a fun-coloured car.

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  92. I have leather seats in my car. Not because they are luxurious but because cars with leather seats often come with electric butt warmers. I wouldn't care if I lived in Florida, but as a Northerner...

    There's nothing like getting into the car on a 25-degree morning, turning on the seat heater and driving away with nice, toasty buns.

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  93. LOVE THE ORANGE! :)

    I hear you on leather. I have leather BUT I live in Michigan and it still will rip off your skin on a 'good' day. ;)

    Rashelle

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  94. haha, I can't tell if this is the Rio or not, but when I bought my car back in 2003 I looked a the Kia because it was orange! I love that color... unfortuately 2003 was not a good year for the Kia Rio and the car I test drove sounded like it was going to shake apart as I drove it. Hopefully, they have used the intervening 6 years to improve this.

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  95. That's a beautiful orange! Like.. hard-candy orange!

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  96. I drive a Kia Sportage and LOOOOVE IT! I've got nothing but good things to say about our Kia dealership! Sadly, our warranty just lapsed, but so far we've had no problems with it. The Forte will probably be our next car once our kids are a little older and need less gear!

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  97. We just got the Kia Soul in alien green. It's blocky and adorable and I still get all giggly and excited when I get to drive it (it's my brother's car, technically).

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  98. Awesome color! I would've taken that one, too! Enjoy your Ki-Orange!

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  99. What a LOVELY car! :D

    Did you really make that Hobbit comment? Pure, pure win.

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  100. Omg I just have to say I love you....... In a totally Non creepy sort of way LOL..... I have had the worst day and I decided to check out your second blog... and I love it.. It is snarky and biting and just Way to Funny. I am now hooked on both This and Cake Wrecks! So thank you for making this a Much better day! You Rock Jen... Oh and Your Orange Car is very Pretty

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  101. OMG - am I the only one picturing a giant inflatable baby riding the top of that car, to make the world's largest, and most awesome Carrot Jockey??!!

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  102. I think the reason orange cars are easy to find in the parking lot is that most people don't want orange cars ... but if you like it, that's all that matters.

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  103. Nice! I almost bought a pastel yellow PT Cruiser a few years ago. That would stood out! Unfortunately, the car dealer lost my order and by the time they realized that it was lost, it was too late to order that color. :(
    So now I have a whitish one but it has a moonroof that the other wouldn't have had. Congrats on the new car!

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  104. Sarah Schwerin said...
    "OMG - am I the only one picturing a giant inflatable baby riding the top of that car, to make the world's largest, and most awesome Carrot Jockey??!!"

    Yes, yes, yes yes YES!
    You MUST do this, Jen and John! Now!
    Or if not inflatable, maybe a foam board cutout, or a fiberglass statue.

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  105. Just an FYI on Kia .. make sure you follow their maintenance plan to the letter! My sister did not get her timing belt changed at 15,000 miles like it said. Then the belt broke at 17,200 miles. They would not cover the damage because it was past the recommended miles. She paid over $900 to get it fixed. She had a Kia Rio. Otherwise LOVE the orange!

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  106. Another great way to avoid losing your car in parking lots is to strap an 18 foot orange kayak to the roof. Works every time.

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  107. I was telling my husband about your new car, and when I told him what color it was, his immediate response was "OMG, they need a carrot baby jockey on top!" We nearly cried, we were laughing so hard. Maybe some photoshop skills are in order?

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  108. My mom's last car was a leather-seated Hyundai. She lives in PA and that got unbearable to sit in in the summer. So I can't imagine what it'd be like in FL...

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  109. I live in sub-tropical QLD Leather is a major no-no. What sticks in the memory is the arguments my mother had buying a Volvo in Northern CA when I was a kid (she had just spent a few years in central QLD, where winter warmer than a northern california summer) she wanted cloth seats and they charged her extra for not getting leather!

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  110. That's adorable. I bought an orange vehicle, too. I'd like to say that I didn't buy it for the color, but I would be lying if I didn't admit to only test driving it because of that fact. I call her Money Penny. She's sassy.

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  111. Man, I sure hope you LOVE IT!!!! Doesn't new car smell smell GOOD???

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