Thank you!

I like the color too ... mostly because it's not a redly red (the fancy dealer name for the color is "Toreador Red") ... more of a bright burgundy, with which I'm comfortable.

As far as what it is ... It's a Mercury Sable, so yes, it does look like a Ford Taurus, but because of the difference in product lines is more upscale than that.

This baby is LOADED. Because it was the dealer demo, it has ALL the features (or damn near. The passenger seat is manually adjusted. I won't often be sitting in it much, so I'll live.)

Permit me to introduce you all to Baron Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richtofen.

ABS
Traction Control System
Leather Seats
Power Adjustable Driver's Seat
Premium Sound System (and I got them to throw in the 6 disk CD changer to sweeten the deal)
Premium Heating System (with the dial-a-temperature thingy. I tell it what I want the interior temp to be ... it stays there.)
Power Moon Roof :) (this is too cool)
Cruise Control
Keyless entry and security package
Power pretty much everything else (windows, locks, wipes my ass for me)
And the BIG engine. 200 hp 24 valve DOHC

There's probably more, but that's what I remember right now.

I did have to apologize to my old, beloved 1994 Eagle Talon when I traded him, though.

Sounds like SOMEONE has their nose in the air around here. ;)

A couple of summers ago, when Rho and I actually had money, and we traveled, we would usually rent a Taurus. I'm not a huge fan of Fords, but I really liked that car.

Corollary: Stoopid Car Commercials I didn't Hate
 

I know I probably should despise some of these.

But I don't.

VW Da-da-da-da commercial. Worked for me for some reason. although I liked the earlier version, without the enhanced "sniffing" noise when the guys figure out there may have been a reason the chair was at the curb.

VW (again) Mr Roboto ... totally hilarious to watch the guy alone in the parking lot.

Oh, and I LOVED Joe Isuzu (Downhill, in a hurricane).

I DID buy an Isuzu (sort of ... Chevy Spectrum which was an I-Mark under the bow-tie) because I liked the commercials.

Matt (mwbEEf) drives a 2001 Mercury Sable. It's pretty alright, though it's kinda got that boat-ish feel. Backing in and out of spaces can be a chore.

I'm hoping that I get used to it.

Knew I forgot something ...
 

Remembered when someone complimented me on the niceness of The Red Baron's rims ...

Alloy Wheels :D

I'll throw in the two cents about which commercials I like the most (for the moment):

the Mitusbishi commercials for the Eclipse and their new SUV-ish thing.
Why, you ask?
They have kick ass music. I actually drove to Chicago to see the group that did the song for the Eclipse commercial (from Minneapolis). I'm impressed by people with good taste in music that manage to filter it into everyday life. If you're wondering, the Eclipse commercial is by Dirty Vegas, and the SUV-ish thing is Telepopmusik.

I'm loving the new Dodge Ram commercial with the little piss-on guy getting butted by the ram. :)

I like the commercial where a guy takes some old car and gives some "special treatment" (crash into a wall, makes an elephant sit on it, etc) to make it looks like a Peugeot 206.

The final scene is brilliant.

Oh, we didn't get that commercial "down here", I saw it in some workmate's computer.

Mitsubishi wants to be VW with their ads. They have picked some good music though.

UT: I think the car companies are getting better at what shoe companies (Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc...) have known for a while:
they aren't selling 'things,' they're selling an image, a lifestyle, a brand. They've just gotten better at marketing their brand. Actually, one of the best commercials (that actually made me want to look at buying a car, was a Kia commercial for a local dealership. It said (paraphrased) we'll give you a cheap, reliable car, come in test it out, if you don't like it, we won't push it. Simple to the point, and more moving (in an decision making sense) than the "image" commericals (though they have more interesting production value, that's about all they have).

I hope you didn't take offense to that Leus. From where we are, you're "down there," while we're "up here" to you.

I forget that Peugeots are still made...they haven't been sold here in like 15 years. The same with Renault.

Kias, from what I've read, seem to be shitty cars, though they are improving. I do like their commercials though...especially the one where the guy is pondering the usefulness of side air bags and then he imagines a "giant donut" hurtling towards him.

i want one. dont know why, just do.

~james

Kia's ads, directed at women 25-34, are a marvel.

There are two that are memorable. In the first, the payoff is that the high school "winner" is shown to be the "loser" when her beau of old is found still driving a Gremlin and now overweight. In the second, the commercial "announcer" is revealed to be the woman in the back seat.

Both strike directly at the heart of the modern female: unending competition with other women. Both fulfill the dream of finding yourself to be the "winner" and your friends, maybe even your best friends, to be suddenly shown to be the "loser".

Both show the "winner" to be the Kia driver with her sharp no-nonsense practicality. Both put across their message in a cute kinda way, so that you almost aren't aware that there was a competition at all. Just like in real life!

They look good on film. Maybe it was Apocolypse Now? The strangeness of this Euro-sedan cruising SE Asia with a major war in the background? I'm not sure I've got the right flick.