<grin> Well, those who've seen my website already know the story, but let's tell it again anyway.
The first time I SAW an SVX up-close-and-personal was at a Subaru dealer in Oklahoma City. It was a blue 96 model (this was at the end of 1995 and I was actually doing the paperwork to buy my first car in the USA; a 1992 Subaru Loyale). Anyway, the car had deep tinted windows and as I looked over the balcony into the dealership I just loved it! Since we were at a point in the paperwork where we weren't needed (the dreaded waiting game), I decided that I should go down and take a look-see. Man, was that a NICE car. I looked at the sticker and cringed; I earned less in a year at that point than that car cost... but I knew I was smitten!
Okay, flash forward a couple of years and find myself in St. Louis. At the time I still own that Loyale, and a very reliable Pontiac Grand Am that's fast approaching 100,000 miles. Great car, never had a days bother with it in the time I'd owned it... but I'd changed into a consulting job so I needed something I could spend a lot of time in. The GA was OK, but something in my gut told me something was wrong with it, or was about to go wrong. One weekend I had been at the office working, and as I drove back down Manchester I decided to pull into Dick Dean Subaru for a look-see. As I parked I was attacked by salespeople, as usual... but I made it clear to them that I wanted time ON MY OWN to look around. They actually did leave me alone, but it didn't take long before I saw a really nice green '95 SVX sitting in the corner of the lot.
I wandered up to the car and looked around it... looked in it... looked around it again... looked in it again... I think I drooled on the window too... you get the gist
Anyway, one of the salespeople saw me and wandered over. His first words were, "Striking, isn't it?" You know, I don't like pushy salespeople, but I think those words were the ones I wanted to hear. As I nodded silently, he smiled and said, "Want to take it for a test drive?"
I don't remember ever asking what price they were asking... I just knew this was the car I wanted. OF COURSE I WANTED A BLOODY TEST DRIVE!!
We both got in once he'd retrieved the keys, and I just melted into that cloth upholstery. Now, I have to say that I loved the leather in my second SVX as well, but the cloth was probably my favorite of the two. It seemed to just invite me to sit, and in the entire time I owned the car was never either too hot or too cold... problems I've always found with leather. It was also surprisingly easy to keep clean.
I digress. I put the keys in the ignition and turned. A few beeps later and my senses are suddenly almost in-tune with the vehicle. I can feel the engine running smoothly way more than I can hear it. In fact, I can't really hear the engine running at all. I look around the cockpit at the myriad buttons and switches, but despite the number of buttons I find the whole thing VERY intuitive. I wish the guys who designed this dash also designed computer operating system GUI's... make computers a whole hell of a lot simpler! I push the AUTO button for the climate control and suddenly I can hear the engine... though it's still sort of at the edge of hearing. The black disc has sprung to life, and I set the temperature at a comfortable 70 degrees (over time that went down to 68... but I digress again). The engine's still not loud at all... in fact this car at idle is quieter than just about anything I've ever been in before.
So I pull up to Manchester road, being easy with the car. As we sit waiting for a break in traffic, the sales guy in the passenger seat is talking to me about how he wouldn't mind buying this car himself, but given his wife just had their third child he didn't feel it was practical. Then I see it... a break in the constant stream of traffic that's ALWAYS flowing down Manchester... and I goose the gas.
I don't really recall if I hollered as the POWER light lit up on the dash... I do remember the sales guy stopped talking for a minute. Even with the drizzle on the road that had been falling all morning, the car gripped the road with incredible tenacity. So much so that I unexpectedly caught up with another car way quicker than I had anticipated, forcing me to tap the brakes. I also suspect the "SVX Grin" had invaded my features, because I noted a slight smile on the sales guys face. He knew he had me.
I don't remember that much about the rest of the test drive... I know we reached a couple of... ahem... illegal speeds, but by the time we returned to the dealership, I do remember telling him "I really would like this car... but..." His face fell. I remember smiling softly and continuing, "... I need to talk to my wife... she doesn't even know I'm car shopping today." I saw the relief on his face... hey, it was late in the month and he probably was below quota. I've been in sales... I understand.
Two days later, I returned (this was the Monday afternoon)... I had taken the afternoon off work to buy the car, my wife had basically said "Whatever you want... go for it". I drove the car once more, with the same sales guy (hey, it's only fair!) and then returned to make a deal.
I do remember the negotiations well... they still make me laugh a little. (this was with the finance guy, not the salesman) He told me what they were willing to give me on my Grand Am... I just told him to continue. He told me his price, I told him what I was willing to pay. He asked me where I'd gotten that figure, and I whipped out my printout from Edmunds. He seemed to relax and gave his spiel about "Edmunds always low-balls their numbers... real-world numbers are always higher." I got a smile across my face that I don't think he liked very much as I whipped out an Edmunds printout of my Grand Am and said, "Oh good, then you can give me more for my trade!" The number he'd quoted me for my Grand Am was EXACTLY the Edmunds estimate. At first he looked sheepish, then he laughed a little and said, "Okay, let's negotiate." I ended up about 3 points above wholesale, which we both felt was fair. I know wholesale has some slack built into it, but I still wanted the sales guy to make something from this deal!
So I left the lot with a 95 SVX, and the rest is history. Well, not quite... there is a little followup that bears to be posted here:
Three weeks later I lost a tire on the SVX driving on 40. I came off on Clarkson and changed a tire in the rain... not my favorite experience. I took the car to a tire store right across the road from Dick Dean, and while they worked on it (I had just bought four new tires because the car needed them anyway), I wandered over to Dick Dean to look around the lot. The same sales guy recognized me and walked right up asking me how the SVX was working out. I laughed a little, told him about the busted tire but that otherwise I loved the car. He laughed out loud also and said, "Hey, you know that Grand Am you traded in? About a week ago I was out test-driving the car with a potential customer, we came up to a set of lights. He had been loving the car up until that point, but then when the light turned green he pushed the gas and the engine just revved. The transmission had failed completely."
I'll never know if that car died because of something I'd done or not done... or if it had been because of Dick Dean's habit of flushing and filling the transmission of traded vehicles (make the fluid smell nice, but sometimes can exacerbate problems)... but it looks like my gut feeling about the car had been right.
In the next chapter... my '94 pearlie...
