So now I'm driving the same car that Jeremy Clarkson has, though I rather suspect that he has the hoopty-hoopty AMG version. When Trevor Eve was on Top Gear, he referred to Jezzer's car as an SLK shopping trolley, so I thought it would be funny and sort of a nod to Top Gear if I named my new car something that was an anagram of "shopping trolley". This didn't work out so well; the best I could come up with was "stropping holley". Damn and blast. Then Jeremy mentioned that the staff had been riffing on him by referring to it as an SLGay. Still no good name suggestions.

I wanted to write some about Car Max, which is where I found my car. I found exactly what I liked and wanted online, though at a Nashville, TN location, so I called to ask about how their transfer process worked, if I'd have to commit to buying it sight unseen or paying the transfer fee regardless, etc. Once I understood that I was under no obligation, we had some days to research Car Max. There were a lot of negative posts out on the intarwebs about Car Max, though even before I went to look at my car, I had my doubts.

For example, if one has extremely bad credit but insists upon a new(er) car without reading all the paperwork, and then resents the fact that one has agreed to paying 18% interest, I fail to see how that's Car Max's fault. Similarly, if one buys a car with 88,000 miles on it, doesn't ask to see a CarFax report or bother to have the used car inspected by an independent mechanic, only to be surprised by some major, costly repair - I still don't see that as anything Car Max did wrong. Caveat emptor, don'tcha know. I read a lot of online feedback but before going to look at the car I eventually bought, I thought that most of the complaints were of the complainants' own making.

Still, I felt warned and went into the deal intending on getting an inspection from our local dealership, ready and willing to return the car and say, "No deal!" if anything untoward was revealed.

Admittedly, it's only 5 days in, but the local dealer confirms that my new car is everything Car Max claimed it was - clean title, never been wrecked or even dented, no damage, no repairs, no recalls, no things-that-are-about-to-go-wrong...then, Car Max offered financing cheaper than my bank, provided insurance and I would have purchased their warranty except that I can get a much longer extended warranty directly from Mercedes. I feel compelled to defend Car Max from the mostly negative press I found online. They treated me very nicely, everything they told me is (at least thus far) 100% true, their deals and offers were above-board and completely legit with no hidden bad surprises - we intend to research their inventory when Alan's ready for his next car, and when the time comes, I'd rather buy a gently used, low-mileage late model car from them again instead of brand new. It was truly a good experience and if you're in the market, I recommend that you consider Car Max. Do your homework, don't be stupid, but definitely consider Car Max.