Wife needs a new car

benebob · #1 07-07-2003, 08:06 AM

My wife's Jetta (the world's biggest POS with 40k on it) is ready to go. Now that the Brat is back from inspection woes I've narrowed her choice down to a Legacy GT wagon 5 speed problem is she doesn't want leather (issue with the dead cows as she has been a veg. for 10 years or so now). Personally I feel that leather in a Jap car is pretty much worthless to begin with as the quality of it just isn't there besides to me it just doesn't look right. We looked at the Legacy Special Edition but it lacks many of the features I'd want (LSD, Side impact airbags, upgrades suspension, etc). Problem is the GT only comes with Leather now.

Kevern has a new one listed on autotrader for $23k (which is a GREAT deal as it is a $27k car). These are the options

1. Keep the POS Jetta (it gets the $500 it needs for inspection done tomorrow).
2. Buy the 03 GT with leather and side airbags
3. Buy an older GT w/o leather or side airbags (which after seeing the last forester test I really would prefer side bags)
4. Wait until the 04s come out and hope that the Legacy has them standard or as an option by then (price would probably end up being close to sticker as it would probably need to be special ordered if they don't go with it as standard equipment.
5. Get rid of the POS Jetta and let her drive the XT6?

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

SVXRide · #2 07-07-2003, 08:33 AM

as a "peske" vegetarian (I do eat seafood) for over 15 years, I can understand your wife's issues with the seats...I had the same issues with leather shoes/belts for a while and then came to the realization that the "man made" substitues were basically c**p. If is helps any, I think you can make a valid arguement that the hides used for the seats were not from animals specifically bred just for their hides (I'm assuming we're talking cow hides here...). This all said, I'd go with your option 2 -- you'll feel better with her driving it and she'll definitely be safer.
-Bill

Subafreak · #3 07-07-2003, 05:15 PM

Seems the seats already have leather on them it's safe to assume the cow is already dead, may as well sit on it. But if not how hard would it be to buy the one with leather and find someone without it to trade seats with.

Best idea is get rid of the pos Jetta, let her drive the XT6 and get a 04 Legacy when they come out.

benebob · #4 07-09-2003, 06:18 AM

There is now a silver 03 Legacy GT shining in our driveway. The bad thing is I guess I have to fix the valve cover leaks on the XT and Brat as I can no longer blame them on my wife's Jetta

.

SVXRide · #5 07-09-2003, 08:59 AM

Okay, where do I collect? I definitely had option 2 in the pool

#6 07-09-2003, 01:36 PM

Let her drive the XT6 until the 04's come out...But who knows, she might have too much fun driving the XT6.

Subafreak · #7 07-09-2003, 06:15 PM

Good choice, and silver too. Did it come with a wing?

benebob · #8 07-09-2003, 07:26 PM

No wing of course the GT has basically no options but as far as accessories it has the rear bumper cover, crossbars, wheel locks, and sec system. Oh yeah I did kinda force a hitch out of them so my sailboat doesn't need to rely soley on the Brat. We got a great deal. The place matched Kevern's price on a tan one (her second choice color) which had 1200 miles on the odo and not as much as far as options. Better yet I squeezed out exactly what the Jetta wholesale value was after subtracting the $800 to fix most of its issues. Guy was fairly nice. Definate no hassles dealing. He even lives in Lancaster and has offered to drop a loaner off when the hitch comes in, drive to work then drop it off on the way home that night. I told him its a deal so long as he drops off an STi and there is an autox that weekend

. Leather and all I think she's happy. To me it is a little under powered but the handling!!!!