New girl…

So there’s a new girl in my life. I’m on cloud nine, she’s amazing– she’s fun, she makes me smile, she’s beautiful, she makes my heart race, she makes me feel like a million bucks….

Wanna meet her?

That’s right. Sloanie’s in a new car. Technically this is the first time I’ve ever had a *brand* new car. The Maxima was about a year old and almost new when I bought it, but not quite.

This is a 2007 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE. I was never a huge fan of the body style of the 02-06 Altimas, but dang, son– the ’07 Altimas are sexy inside and out. I’ve only had this car for a few days and I love it. A few of my favorite things:

• The color and style. ’07 Altimas are pretty rare at the moment (just began manufacturing a few weeks ago), so it’s amazing that I made it into one I like so much (let alone found one the day I went to find one). I haven’t seen a lot of blues that I like lately, but I really am a fan of this color. Blue’s always been my favorite color but it’s often hard to find a nice color of blue in a car. This car feels more “me” than my last car in terms of style and color. Believe me that this simple picture doesn’t do it justice.
• The engine. A V6 with 270 horses. What else do I need to say?
• The transmission. This is the first time I’ve driven an automatic as my own car (in the past the cars I’ve driven regularly have all been stick-shifts). So this is an adjustment for me, but this isn’t just any automatic transmission– it’s new in the Altima this year (it’s been in the Nissan Murano previously), called CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). I can’t really explain the technical details of this thing, but needless to say, it doesn’t have a set number of gears like manuals and automatics– it has a nearly infinite number of gear ratios. This means it always gives me torque when I need it (accelerating, going up hills, etc.) and then cruises really smoothly once I reach the speed I want. No shift shock. (You’ve probably seen commercials advertising this for the Nissan Maxima). Skeptical as I was, it turns out to be a great combination of both power and convenience. Much more fun to drive than any other automatic I’ve driven.
• Keyless ignition / entry. I don’t ever even pull my keys out of my pocket during the day. As long as the remote in my pocket is within 30 inches of the door / trunk, I can open either. I’m surprisingly appreciative of this feature– how many times have you had your hands full and tried to fumble for your keys to get into the trunk or door? No more. That and it’s not possible to lock my keys in the trunk– if they’re in there, the trunk will pop back open. Very cool. Push button ignition is also convenient, not having to pull the keys out or anything. I’m still getting used to not turning a key to start the car.
• The stereo. No it’s not the Bose system or an after market system, but the stereo still sounds awesome– it just lacks a 6 disc changer. But that’s pretty much irrelevant, because what this car (and most new cars now as of the last year or so I think) has an AUX input. YES. This means no more tape adapters, no radio transmitters, etc. to hook up an iPod or other mp3 player to the car stereo. It works like a champ, and I’m tickled pink that this car’s stereo both sounds great and has an auxiliary in. You know me… the gadget / audio geek.

Overall the only thing I’d change is the interior material from cloth to leather. And I may yet do that. Otherwise it’s about as perfect as I could want.

I want to add my gratitude to my sister Marianne (and her husband Jesse). The little accident they had with the Subaru gave me a kick in the pants to resolve my car situation, but from the time the Maxima was wrecked at the end of October till last Thursday they happily let me drive Marianne’s Sentra, since they had an extra car (Jesse recently got a company truck that he now drives everywhere). They even went to the effort of expediting some repairs on it to make it drivable for me. The fact that they just let me drive it like that and were happy to do so really impressed me. I know I’d be less inclined to just trust someone with a car of mine like that. And I guess I’m typically very independent in that I hate to rely on anyone else for help. But God threw me a curve-ball and one of the greatest things about the whole wreck was that relying on my sister caused me to realize how much charity she has– there’s nothing like someone serving you or helping you happily (not begrudgingly because they feel they should). That level of generosity touched me deeply and engendered a deeper love for my sister and brother-in-law. I can’t thank you guys enough for being there for me, I love you guys! I hope I can be the same support to you in the future.