Kidvelvet’s Blog of Joy

On May 31st, I did something that I haven’t done in over 7 years…I purchased a new vehicle.  While the ‘94 Camry had served my wife and I well (along with my wife’s parents) during its duration, we had to say goodbye to the ol’ girl and we got a new Nissan Altima.  While the Camry was paid for and had only 118000 miles on it, it was at a point where it was going to need some major upkeep over the next year or two, which would have cost around 2500 bones.  And with my job having me travel from Hillsboro to Salem, Eugene, and Bend, it was time to get a new vehicle that could add a few road miles on it while still getting some good gas mileage.

So far, I have been really pleased with the purchase.  I went with a basic package on the 2.5S, with a few additional features.  It is a metalic grey exterior with a black and silver interior.  I could have gone ape-crap with the vehicle and gone with leather seats, navigational system, Bose sound, and Bluetooth, but that would have raised my 22K vehicle to over 30K…at which point I was looking at a year old Lexus for just a few dollars more.  Nope, stayed basic, then added a bluetooth aftermarket stereo (which was less than 500 installed versus the 1200 for the bluetooth option in the vehicle.)

The mileage for the 4 cylinder sedan has been quite good, although I must admit that I am driving a bit less aggressively than I did in the past.  In combination between highway and city, I am getting about 27-28 MPG, and about 37 MPG on the highway (much higher than the rating of 31 that was advertized.)  With the 20 gallon tank, I am not filling up that often, which is nice given how expensive gas has become.

Mileage was a factor, but comfort was also a major factor.  Other sedans in the same class that we considered, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry, were not built for my 6′3″ frame, and they both felt cramped.  The Altima was HUGE in the interior, allowing me to actually drive the car without having the seat all the way back.  The most popular hybrid, the Prius, was in contention, but for the price it was still a bit too cramped, although I did fit quite well in the back seat.  Too bad that room didn’t translate to the driver’s side of the vehicle, or that would have been a major contender.

It also comes with the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), which thoroughly impresses me.  I can smoothly accellerate to 55MPH and keep the RPMs at a steady 1500, which then eventually increases to 2000.  I think this transmission is one of the main reasons for the excellent gas mileage, even up hills.  It does have a “clutchless” manual override, but I don’t use that much.  I used it once to get up a very rocky incline going to a winery last weekend, but other than that, the CVT works very well, especially when combined with the cruise control.

I must say that so far I am very fond of my new purchase, and at 2.9% financing, I can’t complain about the interest rate either.  However, I do plan to pay off the car over the next year and a half rather than going the full five years.  Of course, I have only put 1400 miles on it, so I will have to update the blog as time rolls on.

Stay tuned…