Due to “circumstances” that I’m not going to go in to, I made the decision to sell my current Honda CR-V to my step son. I did this for a few reasons, first and foremost, due to him needing a car, but also because I have been wanting something different for quite a while. Many years ago I bought a 2009 VW Tiguan, and loved driving it. The mileage wasn’t that great, and the repairs were sometimes a little expensive, but it was an amazing car to drive. I wanted something like that but since the newly redesigned Tiguans were very expensive, and brand new, I figured I’d have to find something different.

A bunch of Facebook friends gave me a lot of good suggestions, and I looked in to a bunch of different vehicles. On Monday I specifically went out looking at a Subaru Forester. The Subaru brand has long been synonymous with the “outdoor life” and I thought, that this would be a great vehicle for my lifestyle. We took a 2015 model out for a test drive, and by the end I was feeling disappointed. It was louder than I wanted, and it didn’t handle like I was expecting from the reviews. Maybe I just got a bum model, but I finished the test drive feeling very unimpressed.

We happened to be at a VW dealer where this Subaru was located, and so I asked to take out a 2015 Tiguan, and a 2014 Ford Escape that they had on the lot. I wanted to see if I could remind myself what I liked about the Tiguan, so that I could have something better to compare to as I’m testing other cars. It was a -10 degree day, so they were having issues getting the Ford to start, so we took the Tiguan out first. Halfway through the test drive, as I’m telling my wife how much I love driving it, she says, “If you’re comparing everything to the Tiguan, just get a Tiguan. It’s what you really want to make you happy.”

She was right. As much as I complained about the poor MPG, I really loved my Tiguan, and I wanted that experience again. I also have test driven the new, completely redesigned 2018 Tiguan, and liked it as well, but it was out of the picture, since it was tremendously expensive for my budget. We arrived back at the dealer, and I took the Ford Escape out for a quick spin and found it rather blah. I decided to shift my focus to finding a decent used Tiguan.

As we’re talking with the salesperson about what they have in stock, he mentioned that the current, brand new, 2017 Tiguan Limiteds are on sale for a HUGE discount. Because 2017 is the final model year of the older model design, they were looking to clear them out to make room for more 2018’s. That means that the price of a new 2017 Tiguan was only a few thousand dollars more than a 2015 with 25K miles on it. At this point I suddenly realized that I actually could justify owning a new car.

I’ve always wanted a new vehicle, but I know (and my wife reminds me) that it’s just not a practical financial decision. You lose so much depreciation in the first 6 months that you can never feel like your money was worth it. However, with the incentives that I was getting, that gap was much, much smaller, and I walked away with a vehicle that is only depreciated a couple thousand dollars while driving it off the lot. That makes the entire experience a much more palatable one for me.

So tonight I drove home my car that has less than 30 miles on it. It’s got lots of great tech in it, but most importantly, it’s comfortable, and drives like I like to drive. Nice tight German handling that hugs the road, and a little bit of pep to remind you that driving can be fun.

Now, it’s time to start planning for the trailer hitch install!