Awesome new Mercedes-Benz commercial with Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher and a pregnant woman.

No, I didn't get a new car yet; they gave it to me as a loaner when Heather's car went into the shop. I peaked at the window sticker sitting in the glove box. $45,000. Let that sink in a little bit for a second. A4. 2.0T (211hp turbo charged 4 cylinder). In all fairness it's optioned heavy with, 'Audi Driver Select' which is short for dynamic shocks, and a Bang Olufsen stereo. But, pachow that's a lot of coin for an A4. No sports package, no s-line package, no six cylinder (not that their normal six is worth paying for anyway). Sadly, you can also get a 335i (300hp twin turbo six cylinder) with the premium package and cold weather package for roughly the same price as the A4. I'm not positive the BMW comes with as many doo-dads, and it's not a brand new design, but 211hp against 300hp? Of course, if you want all wheel drive, you'd have to pony up to the 335xi which run a couple grand more. And in all fairness, the 2.0T has plenty of torque ... but the BMW has 300ft/lb. ...

I know I said I was leasing this one to force myself to keep it for more than a year. But I don't think that's going to happen. I'm trying to use the soft car market to get out of my C300. Hopefully I can work it so that the low interest rates for CPO Audi's and the low auction prices on lease returns will absorb my substantial negative equity. I'm still trying to find out how, mathmatically, leasing works because for what I'm paying per month and what the residual is I shouldn't be this far behind. My guess is that if I kept it another year I'd be in better shape, but I don't think I can put up with it that long. While I'm waiting for stuff at work I figured I'd compile a list of pros and cons. And just so that I'm not being pessimistic I'll put my likes first. But I've come to the conclusion that this is a 20k car with 15k worth of badges. Likes Suspension. Although it's gotten a little brittle with the colder weather and/or mileage it's still very comfortable for the cornering performance it delivers. Handling. ...

The GT-R is was a pipe dream. I know it. And now, with only roughly 30mo of my 39mo lease on my Mercedes remaining, what am I left to do but figure out what I want next? I somehow doubt I'm sneaking a used Boxster past Heather. I know, technically, you can put a car seat in the front passenger seat, and Logan will probably be in a booster by then, but I still don't think it'll fly with Heather. And then there's the possibility I could get her to go for a used S4 convertible; if there are enough good low mileage cars around by then ... the S4 cab hasn't been selling that well in recent years. But there'd still be the issue of two thirsty V8s in the garage and in 30mo, it's likely that gas will be up another $2 a gal. As far as I can see, that pretty much leaves me with a 135i. If Heather doesn't miraculously turn up pregnant between now and then. Logan can suck it up and squeeze in back. And I'm hoping that BMW has their dual clutch gearbox in normal ...

Evo Magazine Review: 2009 Nissan GT-R Logan better not be claustrophic, because he's getting stuffed in the back. This looks like the supercar bargain of the decade, and I'm sure everybody else knows it too. There are already reports of waiting list slots selling for $20k, and dealers set to gouge for that much plus some over MSRP. But the same thing happens each time a new M3 comes out. Same thing happened with the Nissan's own 350z. A year later, it's back to MSRP, no waiting list and possibly even repeat customer discounts. With the horsepower war still in full swing despite climbing gas prices, I suspect that ~480hp for $65-75k (pricing hasn't officially been announced) isn't really going to be on the radar for the horsepower nuts. BMW M3; 414hp. Audi RS4; 420hp. Mercedes Benz C63; 457hp. Chevrolet Corvette; 400hp (Z06 505hp). Upcoming 2009 Cadillac CTS-V; 550hp. That's a lot of competitors in the same price range. Most of which also offer two more doors, a usable back seat and trunk.

I wanted this in the highest possible quality, so with my slow server connection this may take awhile to download. Highly suggest just pausing it, letting it download and then watching it. I don't know how they pulled shutting down streets in Manhattan, Rio and Rome to get this commercial shot. Monoco would've been easy during gran prix weekend. And there's no CGI. Video after the jump.

I officially made it 22 months before having to buy a new car. Bought a C300 with P1, 7sp auto, panorama roof and the 18" wheel option. Too lazy to take pictures, but it looks exactly like the press photo, color and all. I've been looking at the new C class since it's introduction in August but the bellevue mercedes dealer was just awful to try to work with. No cars available, wanted to charge me $1000 for shipping on a dealer swap and wanted to mark up the lease rate astronomically. But worst of all didn't want to give me anything for my trade. Ended up over at Phil Smart in downtown Seattle and they were much better to work with. Didn't get a monster deal like Heather's Audi, but they were at least willing to negotiate. Who knows if it's just a matter of getting the right sales person/sales manager or right time of the month. Bellevue mercedes was insulted that I'd even consider not paying them exactly what they wanted. It's not the most powerful, most luxurious or cheapest in it's class. It was a good deal less expensive than my BMW ...

There was mention during the Belgian GP broadcast that Colin had been involved in a helicopter crash, but there was no word on his condition. It was later confirmed that Colin, his five year old son, and two family friends were killed in the crash.

Finally got my new suspension and wheels installed.

A week late, but it's finally here. Gonna pick it up today, and of course I forgot my camera.

I'm still going to keep the forsale site up just for nostalgia. I was asking 31, and it would've been nice to get that, but I settled for just my payoff. I learned a few things from the experience (this is the first car I've ever sold myself) 1) not getting the break on sales tax by trading the car in means I got screwed. Although to be fair even with the tax credit, the trade-in numbers I was getting still would've put me in the hole. 2) It's an extremely easy process as long as you have time and patience. My car wasn't exactly the type that everybody was looking for, but I think I could've done better if I'd been a lot more patient and left it on the market for 6-10wks. As it is, I was getting a desperate feeling after 3wks. 3) The people who did look were impressed with how clean I keep my car. I never think of my car as being that clean, so what kind of junk piles were they looking at before mine? My new car should be here by the end of November, ...

Started looking for something bigger now that the baby is here; the A4 just wasn't cutting it for space. And I'd had my eye on pre-owned A8 prices for awhile now. Luxury cars don't really hold their value, and Audis don't have great resale value to begin with (a disadvantage for our trade-in). We started out looking for a 2001-2002 A6 4.2 because Audi was running a 0% finance deal on 2001 A6's but those were tough to come by. We stopped in one day to see Joe, our original Audi salesman, and mentioned we were looking for the A6 4.2 *or* an A8. For the next couple of weeks Joe and I went back and forth on a couple of different cars and then all of a sudden this 2001 A8L shows up with only 25k miles. Couldn't resist. Paid less for the 2001 than I did my A4, same interest rate (3.9) and it's a certified pre-owned so I get 2yrs/100k warranty and roadside assistance. The only thing that was a little sour was that I didn't get crap for my trade-in. But, I knew going in that Audis have crap ...

New wheels finally have tires and they're finally on the car. Was up until 11pm last night fiddling with the suspension height. It's weird when you put wheels on yourself, instead of having a shop do it. At least it is for me. I don't trust them yet, I keep imagining the bolts backing out and a wheel falling off. But if I had a shop do it, I wouldn't think twice. Pictures coming soon.