I posted a while back about my recent car shopping experience, which has been ongoing for the last several months. I've never had a new car and with midlife approaching, I was feeling entitled to a little crisis spending spree.
I had narrowed things down to four cars. The early front-runner was the Audi A7 TDI. It is a beautiful car and I came THIS close to pulling the trigger on it, two weeks ago Sunday to be precise. I had to walk away and posted right after doing so as I cooled off. It took a lot of willpower to resist that car that day. I considered things all the next week and eventually went in another direction.
I ended up buying Consumer Reports #1 rated mid-sized luxury sedan (and just a few points below the Tesla S for all cars): The Mercedes-Benz E-250 BlueTEC 4Matic:
![232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv39](http://images1.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv39%3B39%3Enu%3D3269%3E8%3C4%3E%3B%3A%3A%3EWSNRCG%3D69e3%3Bgf80242e%2F7%3Bd40cf9%3B%2Fdd9dhhd%3B74%3C4ot1lsi)
![232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv39](http://images1.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv393%3C7%3Enu%3D3269%3E8%3C4%3E%3B%3A%3A%3EWSNRCG%3D%3B79364h50%3B%3B%3B9%2F77%3C20%3A4h%3A%2Fd%3B8498g3ec78ot1lsi)
![232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv39](http://images1.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp93232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3928%3B%3Enu%3D3269%3E8%3C4%3E%3B%3A%3A%3EWSNRCG%3Dg8938%3B%3C4054gi%2F7%3A%3Ac0%3Beg%3B%2F63f7479hh274ot1lsi)
I went for used (I can't even have a proper mid-life crisis!) instead of new. Old habits are hard to break and buying a car (unless it's vintage) is never a good investment. I decided to do the smart thing in the end, just like every other time. That being said, inventory was a huge factor because I just couldn't find a lot of new or late model used A7 TDIs available in the color and with the options I wanted. It was somewhat the same with the E-250 BlueTEC, but there were definitely more of those around to see and drive. Even to get a new A7 that nearly matched my wants I was looking at a 6 hour drive out of state to purchase it and bring it back and if not that car, a factory order with a 3 month wait was the only other option.
Oh, yeah, the difference between a new A7 and a '14 BlueTEC was only a measly 30 grand, so there was that too....LOL, and I am nothing if not a miser. (That's how I afforded this thing in the first place.
)
Here it is delivered:
![232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv37](http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv37985%3Enu%3D3%3A%3C2%3E239%3E8%3B%3B%3E2%3B%3B32399%3A%3C239ot1lsi)