Journal blue trane's Journal: Kia Sportage 2
I was considering buying it. Here are some pictures: http://imgur.com/a/OGWVw
The dealer gave me 48 hours to drive it and make my final decision. I didn't like the stereo; it didn't have a good bass response, even with bass turned all the way up and "middle" and "treble" ranges turned to -10. The stereo is very important to me as I spend a lot of time on the freeway, and like to listen to music. It didn't give me enough volume to listen to the Louis Armstrong CDs, and the static was much more noticeable than on my old Corolla's sound system. I took it to Car Toys and asked them for an estimate; they gave me a ridiculous quote of $2275 or something. One guy said the Corolla has bigger speakers in the back, and the acoustics of the car is better. Anyway I decided I couldn't live with that stock stereo in the Kia.
It's a shame, because otherwise it was a great car, fun to drive, got decent gas mileage, had enough room. The major other issue I had with it was that the rear seats didn't fold down flat. I tried to sleep in it one night but the incline was too uncomfortable. Why couldn't they make the back seats fold down flat?
I liked the rear tinted windows, and the bluetooth phone connectivity. The visibility wasn't so good looking backwards; the rear windows are small so even headchecks don't give a full view. Also the side mirrors were kind of triangular, pointed at the edges, which also reduced the visibility. I think I could have gotten used to that though.
There were also some spots on the trim that didn't rub off, maybe oil. And the front hood had a ding in it which I pointed out to them before taking it on the extended drive, and which they promised to fix for free.
But I ended up deciding to unwind the deal. If I'm going to spend $21k, I want to get everything I want; and that includes a good sound system (at least as good as the Corolla's!), and rear seats that fold down flat.
They didn't hassle me about backing out of the deal. They just looked disappointed. Oh well.
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Afterwards I felt sad, driving the old 2000 Corolla. All that dealing with salespeople had gotten me accustomed to interacting with other humans, and I felt lonely by myself, despite my music.
I stopped by the upper Snoqualmie River, and put on my swim trunks. Then the sun went behind some clouds. I waded in up to my thighs, then decided it was too cold and got out. The bottom was very muddy in that spot, and my sandals were getting sucked into it. It was hard to walk.
I drove to another spot, and went for a jog along the Snoqualmie Valley trail. I found a path leading through the brambles leading to the river. This bank was rocky instead of muddy. I waded in. Again I got cold and was going to get out. Then I decided to splash water on my arms. Then I washed my face. Then I stood about waist deep and plunged myself in. It felt so good I did it a couple more times. The river at this spot was faster. There was a small island across maybe a 100 foot channel, but I didn't dare to try to swim to it. Maybe another day
Getting into the water was invigorating. It made me feel better. Jogging back, I came across a herd of deer, at least 50 of them. They got startled and ran away. I saw quite a few bucks with large sets of antlers.
Kia's look pretty nice. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I drove the Scion xD, it's pretty nice. The salesman said it's basically a Corolla. I would like to get something a little higher off the ground though so I can take it on forest roads without worrying about scraping the bottom...