....... since I purchased the ms3. Love the car. Even when the motor mount failed and I had to have it towed from rural WI back into the Twin Cities I was not upset. The problem is, I get the 3 year itch. BAD. Corolla- 3 years, blew it up, fixed it, sold it. The Talon 3 years, blew it up, crushed it. and on down the line. I've only actually blown up two cars.... and both of them were due to negligence on my part. After I got rid of the Talon, I got my first NEW car, a 2005 Mazda3. Sure, it wasn't a turbo, but I needed to make a fast purchase, and waiting for the right, not hacked Evo was not in the cards. Sure, I could have gone STi, but they wanted an arm and a leg for those, and that just wasn't in the cards. Shortly after I purchased the 3 (an SP23 hatch, manual, BROWN leather, for those interested) rumors began floating around the ethos about a new, more powerful 3. One that might be AWD, was most assuredly a turbo, and was supposed to be a fairly serious machine. I KNEW I had to have this car. I tracked it, closely. Any time there was a tidbit on the vehicle, I knew about it. Once they were finally announced for the US, I was at my local Mazda dealer, cash in hand, and dangling the keys to a tasty used hatchback. Seriously, every time I took the car into a dealer, for whatever reason, they tried to buy it from me. I ordered what ended up being the 1st ms3 in the state, and one of the first few in the country. When I ordered the car, they didn't even HAVE an options list. I told them I wanted it in blue (There HAD to be a blue) and I wanted it as loaded as it got. HIDs, nice interior, the whole bit. Then, Texas. There was a possibility to get out of MN, and have some fun. NO SNOW. I turned down said ms3, kept the SP, and went about my merry way. The dealer wasn't terribly upset, because I had effectively delivered them a guaranteed sale, as like my 1st 3 from them, there was already a list of people waiting for my car when I was done with it.
Then, Texas fell apart. As evidenced by my profile, I am still trapped in this frozen wasteland. Well, it's not a wasteland, but I REALLY hate snow. Long story short, I made the mistake of venturing to a dealership one day. Not the same one I had ordered my car from mind you, a different one. I was just going to go look at the seats. Seriously. The wife was with me. I was greeted by a very nice (and attractive!) young lady, who just happened to have the keys to the demo car. Funny thing when you look like a troublemaker, but pull up in the right car, keys tend to appear. Took the demo car for a spin. As I was leaving the lot, the vultures were circling the SP23.... as usual. By the time I came back, they were already working on a trade setup for that car. I was unsure. The sales lady was smart enough to hand me the keys and tell me to "go take care of my errands, and come back with it when I'm done". I came back, and was ready to take my perfectly good car, and go. I wanted one, but it wasn't reasonable. The WIFE of all people, convinced me otherwise. Long story short, and many thousands of dollars short later, I had a 2007 Mazdaspeed3. This one was IDENTICAL to the one I had ordered, optionwise, save for the navigation, and this one is black.
And therein lies my problem. I love this car. I traded a car I really loved for it. But, it's been 3 years. Time for something new. BUT- there is absolutely nothing out there I would consider reasonable. Someone tell me the ms3 is good, and I should just purchase a set of R-compounds for it and autocross the E36 M3 out of it, or something. Convince me that the faithful companion in my garage is worth keeping.
), and rent a storage unit...
