On Sunday I purchased an alabaster autostick w/ dark slate grey interior. Thanks to the wealth of info on this site I was able to educate myself enough to really decide that I wanted this car. The rebate and the fact that the Crossfire has to be one of the best looking cars on the road sent me over the edge. The looks of the car are confirmed by all the stares :shock: , positive comments 8) , and questions I got on the looooong drive home (more on that later). I have yet to see a crossfire on the road in my area. The first time I saw one was last September displayed by a dealer at a boating event. I liked it but thought it was a little pricey compared to the 350Z (based largely on HP comparison). I guess I've missed out on some of the earlier fun involved with having such a new model, but too me it feels like I have the first one produced.

Anyway, my purchase was probably more unusual than most. I tried negotiating with 5 dealers in the Baltimore area. I had seen the Carmax prices online, so I simply told the salesperson at each dealership that the Carmax price was my target. All 5 dealers came in at $1500-$2000 over the Carmax price or didn't have the colors/option that I liked. I even offered to split the difference with the cheapest local dealership which they wouldn't do. It's funny how they ask BS questions like "are you prepared to take delivery today?" and then "what can we do to sell you this car?" :roll: and then they can't even come close to a bonafide "no-haggle" deal.

So, Saturday night I called Carmax in Orlando reserved my car and even temporarily financed it. Then I bought a one-way ticket on Air-Tran for $174 and took a morning flight. Some people thought I must be Goofy, but rest assured he's still in Florida. Anyway, the salesman picked me up at the airport, and in a couple hours I took delivery of the car. No hassles, and the staff was a pleasure to deal with.

I stopped to visit with my brother-in-law for a couple hours then started my 900 mile trek home at 4 pm Sunday. That's where things almost got ugly. Only 300 miles into the trip, which was really fun, I heard a metallic sounding bang under the car. Fortunately, I was 1/4 mile from a rest stop and stopped there. I knew I had run over a small object (because I never saw it) but I was afraid it may have been thrown up along the side of the car. No damage to the paint.... but then I noticed.... the left rear tire was flat. I'm glad I stopped immediately even though I didn't notice that the low pressure indicator light came on until after I got back in the car to see if it had indeed worked. I found the hole in the tread groove, and it looked pretty large (compared to a nail or screw). I used my repair kit according to the instructions, but the hole was just too big. I was a few mile South of Walterboro, SC and the Chrysler roadside assistance I found out will only tow you to the nearest Chrysler dealership; they don't provide roadside repairs. :? There really isn't much other than gas/food/hotels along the I-95 corridor in SC, so I can't imagine where the nearest dealership could of been. Fortunately, a rest stop employee was able to locate the number of a "local" 24 hr. service center 21 miles away. After a couple hours they arrived and were able to patch the tire which was a huge relief because they would of had to order the tire. Too make a long story short, I drove the remaining 600 miles without any other problems. I may just get a new tire, or investigate keeping the existing one if the safety risk isn't too great. But I will probably carry around a tire plug kit with me in the future. So for the cost of the airline ticket, $70 in fuel, $102 roadside repair, a few roaming cell phone calls and a little "excessive" mileage depreciation (somewhat negated by having fun), I finally arrived home with her at 11am yesterday. Then I drove her to work and back. Has anyone else clocked over 950 miles during their first 24 hours of ownership? At least I can finally say it's broken in.