Doing our part for the economy, aka a new car

Last week we got our new car,  a Toyota Corolla Ascent. After a week of driving we have decided we rather like the new vehicle. Lego Lover just loves, loves, loves it and had a wonderful time washing it this evening (with me). Game Fanatic is less exhuberant and seemed to avoid any contact with the car until the third day when he had an appointment to attend. He does like having a cd player in the car and will even sit in the front seat just so he can have control of it. Aside from the cd player, the Scientist and I have noted some other improvements:

• The inside light actually comes on when the door is opened. Last night we drove after dark for the first time and were surprised to have a light come on when we opened the door upon our arrival at home.
• Both visors have a mirror behind a sliding plastic cover along with a light that operates when the door is fully open.
• An arm rest/cup holder in the back seat. At the moment, food and drink in the car are heavily frowned upon so the cup holder isn’t that relevant. But the arm rest creates a definite barrier between kids in the back seat.
• The front passenger door actually locks when you lock the car. We haven’t quite broken our habits of waiting for the door to be unlocked but I think we may be there soon.
• Parking this car is so much easier than the Camry was. It fits in the parking spaces. I honestly can’t see how anyone manages to park a BBV (bloody big vehicle) with the facilities available.

There have been a couple of issues that have arisen so far:

• The front windows are automatic which is rather a pain. It’s hard to get the windows to the place you want them, especially when driving. I also keep forgetting to put the window up before turning off the car when I park. I’m sure we will get used to it. I also find it odd that it’s only the front windows that have this feature.
• The car started making some sort of beeping sound one day when Lego Lover and I were returning from the shops. Initially it flashed the seatbelt light and we both had our seatbelts on. I stopped and we checked the doors and all was fine. By this point the car was beeping frantically and I still wasn’t clear what was causing the problem. I stopped the car and started it again. The same scenario was repeated. It was only when I accidentally shifted the location of my purse in the passenger seat that I realised it must have some sort of sensor in the seat. Sure enough, the Scientist located a section in the manual that described the stages that would take place. My purse wasn’t heavy so I am surprised it was set off. I could see it happening with a bag of groceries though.

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