My dad always told me that you never enter the battle unprepared and if you ever get caught off guard then your best defense is a strong offense. So when my dear wife brought home a Lexus RX400h to be her daily driver last month, I knew that I couldn’t leave THAT challenge unanswered for long. If you reflect back a bit, you might remember that I too was in the market for a new vehicle to replace an aging Audi. Back then I challenged you for a non cookie cutter vehicle for under $40K and i waited for the feedback.
I took to heart those comments and researched quite a few vehicles over the last few months and started looking. The chamber was loaded, the hammer was cocked and all I needed to do was pull the trigger. Whatever I chose I knew it all boiled down to mix of comfort, style, value and uniqueness. That final factor to me is important because I still believe the vehicle you drive is a reflection upon your personal taste. I simply can not stand walking past three separate clones of my vehicle in a parking lot before I get to mine. I feel I can do better than that.
So after much debate and countless test drives I took the plunge. My final choice for was a 2010 Volkswagen CC with only 16,000 miles. Since the 2012 CC has been out for a while now, I bought this one two years into the depreciation cycle. The CC came standard with almost all of the prerequisites I had originally established but I did have to give up my coveted all wheel drive feature this time around. Only time will tell just how much that one is going to hurt, but since there are so few 4 In Motion CCs out there I knew it would be a difficult proposition at best if I made it a top priority.
This has been a busy month, so I waited a week or so to drop the bomb on you and in the time frame I have to say I am still impressed with the vehicle as a whole. The only thing I can see changing is adding a direct iPod interface which this vehicle was not originally equipped with and maybe an ECU tweak to take maximum advantage of the turbo 2 liter full potential a bit further down the road.
So take a look give me your best shot!
BTW: With two tanks down the CC is averaging in mixed driving just over 31 MPG and the RX400h in daily driving is sitting in the mid 20’s. Yes if I baby the RX I can pick up the car pool from school and get to the house without kicking on the gas engine, but in the real world normal people don’t drive that way, and neither does my dear wife.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
2011 BMW 1M NA Launch Photo Gallery
2012 BMW 6-Series NA Launch Cabo Photo Gallery
Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 Photo Gallery
2011 New York Auto Show Photo Gallery
New York Auto Show Preview Photo Gallery