Good Morning!!!! 38F @ 6:00AM. Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 56F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Good chance of rain starting middle of next week.
Stopped by the VW dealer yesterday and talked a nice young lady into letting me test drive a '14 Sportwagon. It had the TDI engine and a 6 speed manual transmission in it, and drove quite nicely. Still sounded like a Diesel, but not from inside where it was very quiet. Well, maybe not very quiet, but a heck of a lot quieter than the F250. Before she got the keys, a gentleman came out to apologize for the rough state of the car, as it hadn't been prepared for sale yet, and they'd been working on the Diesel Particulate Filter and it hadn't accumulated enough miles yet to reset the emissions counters. That's just one of the known problems of these DieselGate cars, and at 125,000 miles on this one it was way past due. But whatever extended warranty the repair triggers, it'll be done by 150,000 miles, and without an expensive aftermarket warranty, I'd be crazy to buy that car. Talking the experience over with a friend, he suggested I take a look at an Audi A3, which is essentially the same car with a more powerful gas engine, more sound deadening, and a higher trim level. And no Diesel issues with DPF or urea. But it gets 15-20 fewer MPG on the highway, and they're pretty thin on the ground.
Also made a stop at the Ford dealer, and quickly learned that the only Transit on their lot was a hybrid, which I'm not at all interested in. And that there weren't any nearby dealers with one (I already knew that), and that they couldn't even order one. Looks like I'll be drivin' the F250 for a while longer unless I find something from Dodge or Mercedes.
Headed down to Lompoc for a birthday celebration with one of my friends, and maybe a look at any new houses that come on the market. As of now, though, there aren't any likely candidates. And I'll be in the truck, propping up the economy at 19 MPG...
Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!