That was quick! I expected to wait at least another month for my new license plates, but they're here already. Put 'em on my car a few mornings ago, and pulled off all trace of dealer-advertising. I'll advertise for a dealer for free for a few weeks, but after that, off it all goes, including those silly plate-frame ads that I can't for the life of me fathom why people leave on their cars.

Edit: I'm not sure how wise it is to post one's full plate online, so most of the tag has been Photoshopped out. Call me paranoid, but I've heard that's it's amazing how much private info can be gleaned -even online- from a licence plate (which can end up in random Google image searches.)

Well, when I said we didn't do any crazy Black Friday shopping this year I didn't factor in the possibility of there being a Saturday Happy Honda Days Sale-A-Thon the following day. Long story short: I pulled the trigger on a brand new 2011 Honda CR-V EX, in glorious Glacier Blue Metallic.  

It was high time to replace my decade-old Ford Focus that I've had since 2004, and trade up to something new. We looked at a lot of used cars, but it just made more sense to get a new car.  I called around to just about every Honda dealership in Southern California, went in for a test drive at the dealer near our house, but I got the best out the door price from Spreen Honda in Loma Linda, CA. (About 70 miles from my house). Note to all other Honda dealers still pestering my email and phone: You're too late, and you all failed to beat Spreen's price anyway!

The CRV is considered a Crossover- somewhere in that nebulous class between passenger car, hatchback, station wagon, and SUV.  I test drove one and knew instantly it was the perfect vehicle for me. Luckily, Leila digs it as well. 

The cabin is comfy! I really like that the shifter is up on the dash, freeing up the center console space. And I finally have my sunroof back! (I had sunroofs once upon a time on an '87 Subaru and a '93 Toyota and I've missed having one ever since.) Well, technically it's a power moonroof, but whatever you want to call it, I love it. I've kept it open on my morning commutes in lieu of A.C. … just because!

Tilt steering, on-wheel controls for the stereo and cruise control, and a decent digital panel with a few goodies like a compass, dual tripmeters, milage graph, tire pressure meter, etc. My GPS, errr… that is my Droid X doubling as a GPS sits nicely on a dash holder above the 6-CD changer. Yes I had to forgo a vent to mount it there, but the climate controls are so good in this car I don't miss it at all.

We'll probably find plenty of use for all this trunk space soon.  I really like the folding shelf that essentially doubles the trunk space. The rear seats also fold up individually- either just the back part down, or completely folded against the front seats. I can actually carry my bike in the back with one seat folded up, and still have room for a rear passenger.

On the road in LA. 

I was fearful about it fitting in our garage, but the CRV is actually not that much bigger than Leila's Ford Focus. 

And now, a quick rundown of the other vehicles I considered before going with the CRV:

1.  KIA Soul. Yeah. I thought it looked a little gimmicky too. It is a little gimmicky. But I test drove one. Liked it. Leila hated it. That was that.

2. KIA Sportage.  I liked it. But no sunroof option without the most expensive upgrade package for the dual sunroof that propelled its price way past everything else. Dealkiller.

3. Toyota RAV 4.  I drove a friend's RAV4 and liked it instantly. That got us on the track of looking at crossover SUVs rather than hatchbacks. The RAV 4 is perfectly comparable to the CRV. It has lots and lots of rear space, even a third row option, but methinks our garage door would smack the external spare tire that makes that extra roominess possible. Dealkiller.

4. Ford Edge. I love the style. I'm very partial to Ford, having owned two of them that have been pretty much trouble free. But the Edge slighted us, as in slightly too big, and slightly… no, make that WAAAY too pricey. Well, it does have an awesome panoramic dual sunroof. But still. 

5. Ford Focus SEL 5-Door 2012. There will always be a place in my heart for the Focus. My first-gen 2000 ZX3 fit me like a glove. Driving it was always a pleasure. It handled well, got excellent gas milage, was small on the outside, yet surprisingly roomy on the inside. In 2008, Ford got rid of the 3 and 5 door hatch (dumb move!), but next year they're bringing it back, and I have to say: the styling looks more polished than ever. But as much as I like the hatchback Focus (I loathe and despise the boring 'made for Americans' sedan version) I was ready to move on.

And of course this was always a possibility…!

Err… maybe not.

Soon! Soon! (Note to self: Patience Harry, patience!)

Meanwhile, in the NOT YET OFFICIAL NEWS category:  Whoooo-hooo to continued employment!

I really have to give Subaru credit- I cracked up when I saw this. 

This is pretty much exactly the booooooooooring experience that shopping for a car in the US often is, and a spot-on parody of the lacking imagination of many  auto designers toiling away to appease a market that demands a redundant rollout of SnoozeMobiles. 

I'll take mine in "Stale Biscuit" with the "Brown Gravel" interior. And sure, why not… let's spring for those optional cup holders! Funny stuff!

As it turns out, these were each of our favorites too. Leila was leaning heavily toward Tundra, and I was favoring Screaming Yellow.

First up, the positives and negatives of the two finalists:

"Tundra" Negatives:

1. Kinda Boooooooring. (Harry's OP)
2. Doesn't have that coolness factor going on like say, oh, I dunno… Screaming Yellow.
3. Reminds one of… zzzzzzzzzzzzzz….* opps! Sorry. Dozed off there for a second. (Actually I do kind of like Tundra too, even though I was hoping against hope for Screaming Yellow!)

"Screaming Yellow" Positives:

1. It looks cool!
2. It looks cool!
3. It looks cool!!

"Screaming Yellow" Negatives:

1. Attracts cops like **** attracts flies.
2. Is the official vehicle color of 'Male Midlife Crisis' (Leila's OP and general consensus)
3. Stereotypically is not so much a grown-up's vehicle color -unless the grown up is around 45, male, and over-compensating for various shortcomings. (I know this is somewhat true, though I haven't quite figured out the exact psychology behind it.)

So these were the options we had to weigh. Responsible and practical, vs. Cool. And the winnah… …Tundra! We called Ford and made our choice, and so ends the new car controversy. Much Ado about nothing to be sure, but hey, sometimes that's life. This actually was a pretty difficult task to choose the color we wanted, so we're happy we choose this very scientific and ultra-modern solution, and thankful for those that participated! Until next time, peace!

Okay, here's the deal! In the ongoing battle for a new car, Ford has finally straightened this mess out. So we've actually progressed to the point of picking out Leila's new car. But we can't decide which color. Well… actually both of us have our favorite- just not the same one!

So we're calling on our family and friends to help us out here. Which do you like best? We've narrowed it down to these three. No, I won't say which colors each of us prefer just yet, so as not to influence anyone's vote one way or another. We'd just like a consensus on what others think.

Leila will probably pick her favorite (it is her car after all) but it'll still be fun to see some other thoughts on this most important of all matters!

Anyhoo… here's the poll. Please give us your opinion!

*Poll Closed*

Could the end of our new car ordeal finally be nearing a close?

Ford management finally left a message on our machine yesterday saying, "Okay, we've sorted it out, come pick out your new vehicle."

My first reaction was, "No way!"

My second reaction was, "What's the catch?"

My third reaction was, "What are they really trying to pull?"

My fourth reaction that I'm still working on is, "Could they really mean, like, for real, that we can really get the new car we bought?! No more multi-month loaners? No more wondering what car we'll end up with? Actual closure?!"

My skepticism remains, after all, I've heard similar proclamations from Ford before, only to return from the Ford dealer with yet another loaner. Guess we'll see how it goes! I'm remaining hopeful! Leila and I will probably head up to Glendale Ford tomorrow (Saturday) and see if this truly is the end of the ordeal, or just another chapter in the ongoing run-around.