New Wheels

Today I took delivery of my new company car. This is the 2009 model of the Chevrolet Impala LS. It was ordered by fleet back in July. I never told Nancy the car had been ordered because I wanted to see how long it would take her to notice when I took it home.

I found out yesterday the car was at the dealer so last evening I cleaned it up inside, vacuumed, and took my stuff out. Got a call this afternoon that it was ready and headed right over to Stan's place to get myself some of that intoxicating new car smell.

I parked my old and new cars next to each other to get some pictures. Here my old car, in Glacier Blue color, is in the front. It has almost 66,000 miles on it. We took delivery of this one in January of 2006.

The color of my new car is called Gold Mist Metallic. They no longer offer Glacier Blue - I think it was only available for a short time in 2006. The body on the 2009 models is still the same, but there is one exterior physical difference other than the color . Can you tell what it is?

My 2006 has a very light gray interior. It was the only interior color offered with that exterior color. Unless you really like a light gray interior I would not recommend it. Shows every little stain or dirt mark. On my new car I chose ebony for the interior. Ebony is like a dark charcoal. In 2006 a front split bench seat was the standard option and that is what it has. For 2009 a bench seat is not an option - just bucket seats with a console. No more traveling in this car with the whole family.

Until this year our company fleet manager has deleted the OnStar (one year service free) and XM Radio (three month service free) options from the company cars. These are standard on even the base LS model. For 2009 they decided to change that and keep those options, but neglected to inform the dealership for my order. Oh well, my current car didn't have OnStar so I'm used to not having that service. When my 2006 was ordered they saved $400 by deleting OnStar but I see now it is only $85. I suppose they figured for $85 it was worth if not just for safety reasons.

So, did Nancy notice the new car? She really didn't have time. Just before sitting down for supper Samantha was standing at the sliding patio door by our dining room area. All of sudden she says, "Daddy, you got a new car!" Imagine that, our three year old was the first one to notice. That's funny.

After supper I took the whole family for a drive around the block. A good time was had by all.