2004 Volkswagen Phaeton
In 2005 I attended the New York Auto Show for the first time. Among other interesting cars, I was able to see the VW Phaeton for the first time. There had been a fair amount of press about it, due mostly to the absurdity of "the peoples' car" offering a high-end, $80,000+ luxury model. I was able to sit in it. It was as if a hush came over me, like I'd just stepped into a church or something. I don't know as I'd ever experienced that before. The car brought with it a quiet dignity that pervaded me as I sat there.
I pretty much forgot about it after that. The model didn't sell, so they discontinued it pretty quickly (or stopped importing it; I'm still unsure of to it's production run in Europe). I figured it was relegated to being a footnote in the history of automobile production. Then one night I was surfing cars for sale on eBay (a passtime at which I'm known to wile away many hours). Somehow I managed to stumble across some Phaetons for sale, and was astonished to discover that the asking prices had come way, way down. They were still a little pricey for used cars, but compared to the astronomical sticker price when they were new, it was an incredible bargain. It got me thinking, but I wasn't in a position to move at the time.
Months passed, and I still kept thinking about Phaetons and drooling over pictures on eBay Motors. Then over the summer after I had completed my annual maintenance/inspection cycle on my collection, I got to the point that I was ready to start thinking about it seriously. The only way to make it work logistically and financially was to get rid of 2 other cars. I had been living one over capacity anyway, with the Jaguar forced to live outdoors year round. Since I didn't need 2 luxury sedans, it was logical for it to go. It actually sold rather easily, due in large part to the fact that I had offered it at a bargain price.
It was then by the process of elimination that I chose to sacrifice the Crossfire. It was one hell of a car, but I already had the BMW Z3 for my sports car needs, and the Crossfire had a fair amount of equity still in it. The problem was it wasn't selling. I was getting zero interest in it. So for the time being I just looked for "nearby" Phaetons and bided my time.
As I was preparing for a trip to NYC, I found a Phaeton for sale in Long Island. It was worth the detour just to check it out. I would have liked to drive the Crossfire down so that it could be evaluated for trade-in, but I didn't want to park it on the streets of Brooklyn. Instead I just drove my little Yaris. I found the dealership okay, and tucked into their back lot was the Phaeton! It was the first time I'd laid eyes on one in the flesh since the NY Auto Show all those years before. It was a nice looking car, but actually a little beat up. I guess Long Island is tough on cars. They wouldn't let me leave without talking some numbers. When I saw their breakdown it turned out that they were actually asking $2500 more than the advertised price. It was a "trade-in fee" or some such bullshit. The guy wanted me to sign on the spot, and gave me a trade-in offer for the Crossfire signt-unseen. But I wasn't on fire about this car anyway, and with their underhanded, misleading tactics I told them to forget about it.
So then I was back to searching for cars on eBay motors. There was one in Philadelphia, one in Ohio, and others more distant. I wasn't prepared to make that kind of a journey, at least not right away. But then one Saturday afternoon I got the bright idea to include cars.com in my search. Until that time I'd been solely checking eBay Motors. Well low and behold, there was a Phaeton for sale just up the road in Syracuse! It was higher miles than I wanted, rather a lot higher, but there it was right in my neighborhood.
The following Monday afternoon I took off from work and drove the Crossfire up there. It was at a used car lot in the State Fairgrounds neighborhood. It appeared that they specialized in used upscale luxury and performance models. There was the Phaeton right there. They let me take it out for a drive while they checked out my trade-in. I felt like a millionaire when I was behind the wheel. Even the feel of the automatic shift lever was like fine furniture. I really just took it up the road and back. I already knew that I wanted it.
So I went back in the dealership and started talking numbers with the salesman. He offered me $500 less than I wanted for the Crossfire. I told him what my minimum was. I was about to say that if they give me my price for my car that I'd agree to their price for their car. But before I could get the words out he volunteered the information that they had lowered the price. I confirmed that he would pay me what I wanted for my Crossfire and still offer the Phaeton at that price. He said yes. We shook hands.
From there it should have been a trivial matter to complete the transaction. I was able to afford the difference right out of the cookie jar, so I didn't need a loan or anything. But the car needed a couple things. Since this was a properly licensed dealer, they were obligated to take care of all that stuff, and anyting else it needed to pass inspection. There was also the matter of the key. The car came with only one key. I told them that I absolutely needed a backup key for a car like this. They agreed to get one for me. It should have all happened very quickly, but it turned into a bit of a nightmare (but that's another story).
I had planned to use this car only for special occasions. But I was so excited to have it that I drove it exclusively for the first couple of weeks. At first my impression was, it's nice, but is it really that nice? Was it really worth all the time and trouble I went though, and the money I spent, to acquire it. Well every time I drove it, it grew on me a little more. I found myself wanting to drive it, just because I enjoyed the experience. And every time I got home from driving it, I kept on thinking about going back out and driving it again. When I would be someplace and getting ready to drive home, where I would usually think, "Ugh, I've got to deal with that drive home," I would now think, "Oooh, I get to spend some time with the Phaeton." And here's the real kicker. If I took it on a long drive, like all the way to my parents' and back in one day during the holidays, by the time I was approaching home, my reaction would be, "Aww, it's almost over." So very quickly I came to the conclusion that yes, it was worth every penny.
Having said that, as I started driving it routinely, the pennies kept flying out of my pocket. I very quickly began to appriate that if you'r going to drive a rich man's car, you're going to have rich man's gas bills, and rich man's repair bills. The car was an unmitigated pleasure to drive, but it got abysimal gas mileage. I couldn't look condescendingly at SUV drivers anymore, because in all likelihood their vehicle got better gas mileage than mine. It was enough to relegate the car back to special occasion status after about a two week honeymoon period. And after I finally checked the oil and saw that it didn't even register on the dipstick, I took it in for routine maintenance. An oil change, transmission fluid flush, and general checkup cost me over $600! They reported to me that the front upper control arm bushings (4 of them) needed to be replaced. Like the starter, this was not an untoward repair for a car of that age. But parts and labor were going to be almost $2,000!!! At least I had a little time to save up my nickles and dimes before the problem was critical.
More on this developing story as it unfolds...