Back in January fellow Bad Seed Antone told me that he was ready to get a new car. He’d been driving his late 90’s Toyota Tacoma pickup for a few years, and he felt like it was time to get a more comfortable vehicle, one that he could use for road trips, and one that would have a nice bit of style.

So we talked cars. Having owned an Acura Legend coupe prior to his Tacoma, he was partial to Acuras and was considering their large sedan - a used RL. After a few discussions, he also decided to look at used Lexus GS400s. Other models discussed but not making the cut: Lincoln LS, Cadillac DeVille, GMC Yukon, and Toyota Land Cruiser.

I was never enthusiastic about the Acura RL, but Antone liked them because they run about $5-7k cheaper than a same-model-year GS. Considering the Lexus offers a V-8 and RWD, as well as more distinctive styling, the price difference makes sense. So Antone visited a couple of used car dealers in the East Bay, test drove a few cars, and was wrestling with which direction to go. Then I was struck with a brilliant idea.

Chrysler was then ramping up to release an all-new sedan, their first rear-wheel drive car in a generation. It had been previewed at auto shows since April 2003, but there was a lot of skepticism among pundits and critics as to whether it was going to succeed in the marketplace: it had strong but polarizing styling, some models were priced much higher than other Chryslers, and, after 20+ years of touting the packaging & safety advantages of front-wheel drive, moving to RWD was a big switch. Still, I’d seen the car in magazines and auto shows, and I was convinced that the car was very desirable. And so I put 2 and 2 together: Antone wanted a big, stylish, comfy sedan; and the Chrysler 300C was coming out in two or three months. If he could deal with the wait, this was a car that would not only meet his needs but far exceed them, and also give him the satisfaction of being the first one on the block (heck, in his county) with the 300C. So I told him about the car, recommended he consider it.

He liked the idea, he liked the car. So a couple of weeks later, I get a call from Antone telling me that he’d visited the dealership and put down a $500 deposit on a white 300C - and, he was first in line!

Now, don’t forget, this all started back in January. Tone layed down the deposit in February. The cars were supposed to start arriving in late March. Come April, we were still waiting. Tone still had his doubts about whether to spend the money for a brand-new car and, also important, he had yet to see one in person, much less drive it! Then, the day came: the sales manager at the dealership called Antone and told him that the car had arrived. Being that Antone & I are devoting most of our resources to our record label, a purchase of this size has to be weighed against other needs. So we spent several hours reviewing our upcoming marketing plans and the expected expenses, basically trying to make sure the dough for the car wouldn’t hamstring our marketing plan. We worked the numbers and made the decision: if the car was right, the purchase would fit the budget.

So the time had come and I joined Antone on his visit up to the dealership. After stopping for a bit to eat, we were joined by his girlfriend, and then we finally made it to the dealership. As we pulled up, we saw it, front and center, cool vanilla with chrome. Freaking beautiful. Massive. Imposing. The decision was made, the deal was done. Well, not exactly, we ended up taking about two hours to drive it, mull it over, debate the issue, and lamely attempt to haggle. (Tone and the sales manager had made an agreement for 2% over MSRP. The car had a $5000 dealer mark-up in the window). Well, needless to say, they weren’t budging even one dollar on price. So we debated some more. The dealer ran the numbers, which turned out to be lower than what we had expected. So that was it, we spent another hour or so handling all the paperwork in a hot and stuffy room in the back of a Chrysler-Dodge dealership. Tone bought his 300C.

And I proved my mettle as a bonafied Car Expert. It’s now been about two months since that day, and wherever Tone goes in that car, people crane their necks, stare, give thumbs-up, and generally adore the car. Antone couldn’t be happier with the decision, and I even get to drive the car on occasion - a very satisfying treat.