[Here's the final installment in my trilogy of posts, detailing my history as a car owner. If you missed the first two you can read part 1 here, part 2 here, or just click through to the next posts.]
Ok, I didn't actually get an Eclipse. But that name seemed fitting for the third item in this series, narrowly edging out "Car Talk With a Vengeance."
What I did get (as you may have inferred from the video above) is a Cadillac! And yes, I do think I'm a big shot now that I can tool around town in a Caddy. It seemed fitting to upgrade from one old man car to a nicer old man car. It's definitely more fun and quirky to tell people I got a Cadillac as opposed to a Civic or Camry or Cavalier or any other C car.
Actually, the model I bought (a Catera--so many cars start with C) was Cadillac's attempt to overcome the stereotype that only old people drive their cars, calling it "the Caddy that zigs." It didn't really work, but at least they made the effort: check out this commercial, complete with Ziggy, a cartoon duck mascot:
That end bit--"Lease a Catera...who is Lisa Catera?" actually spawned a TV character. Seriously. You may have noticed supermodels like Adriana Lima hocking cars during the Super Bowl this week. That's certainly nothing new--Cindy Crawford costarred with Ziggy in Catera's SB spot in 1997.
If you're not tired of Catera commercials yet, check out this one where they use Lisa's less successful cousin Baia Catera. Did you see that? Starting at $30,000?! Crazy! I paid considerably less than that. Like 1/6th of that amount. My Caddy is a '98, too, but has less than 50,000 miles on it. The previous owner was an elderly couple (shocker!) who rarely drove it and kept it in a garage every night. It's in very good condition.
Plus, it's fancy! Power everything, CD player, cooler sunroof than my Buick, separate temperature controls for driver and passenger sides, heated seats, AND I just noticed last night that there are slots to hold coins in the front door. Jealous?
Apparently, the Catera was kind of a flop for Cadillac, and not just because of the duck. It apparently has a history of reliability and performance issues. But I felt good about it while test driving it, the super deal I got on it even included a 90-day limited warranty, and if past history is any indication, if something goes wrong, it may end up benefiting me financially. I'm very pleased with my new old man car. Who wants to go for a ride?
Oh Jeff, Jeff. You crack me up.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised with myself for reading all of the trilogy.
I've been driving the same car since '99. True story.
Great stories Jeff, as always. I can't help but think though that there's a joke in there somewhere about the Cadillac Catera, old people, and cataracts. But maybe I'm just looking too hard. Thanks for sharing!
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