New Car

Having a car isn't really a necessity here. Jim and I can both take the train to work and the bus/tram network is great for getting around the city. Even if we wanted to go out of town, the trains that run throughout the country are not too expensive and Easyjet flys out of Geneva to a ton of airports all over Europe. Still, Jim decided he really wanted a car, mainly he wanted a foreign car. And who am I to disagree. So after waiting and waiting for the right deal and the right car, it finally arrived!

Our car is a BMW 325xi. It's pretty much the nicest car I have ever "owned". I say "owned" because we lease it, and technically Jim leases, but I consider it my car too because we share it.

It has a very comfortable leather interior, and that blank area above the center vents is the onboard navigation which is controlled by a dial in between the shifter and the arm rest. It's pretty sweet. It took a few times to get use to driving it, but that's because I had my last car for 10 years.

That is me the day I sold it, about 3 days before I left for Geneva. Sweet ride right? It definitely had some issues: like a headliner beyond repair, and the engine sounded like a lawn mower, horrible wipers, more than a few dents and scratches, an expired inspection...well the list could go on. But she did the job and I think I'm one of the only people I know who had the same car from high school through college and beyond. Oh there were some accidents in there, but never my fault, and never major enough to total the car. So that makes me proud. But she's gone now, and I'm happy about that too.

Back to the new car: 

 

The pros of the BMW include: a keyless key, heated seats, automatic wipers, fancy navigation, the new car smell, the super quiet ride, windows that automatically go up and down on all four doors and European plates. But I will admit there are some downfalls. Like how there are no cup holders (just one in the center console that will hold a soda can and two in the back), and the seats don't have electronic adjustment that you can save; so when more than on person drives the car you have to keep moving the seat around manually. All in all it is a great car to drive and 10,000 times nicer than my Saturn. And even though Jim keeps telling me I need a Vespa or Fiat Panda, I think I'll stick with this ride.