One year ago today, DW, our friend Alex, and I drove around the city, looking for a KIA dealership where we could test-drive a Niro hybrid. It was a sunny but cold Saturday and we had all day to car shop. A couple of days earlier, DW and I had test-driven a Hyundai Ionic hybrid and we wanted to see what else was out there.
Little did we know that by the end of that Saturday, we would have signed the papers that would make us the owners of a replacement for our 2012 Ford Focus.
The first KIA dealership was a couple of minutes away from Alex's place and we quickly learned that this dealership had no Niros on their lot. When we asked where we might find one, they were only interested in selling us one... sight-unseen.
No thanks, we said. We're not looking to buy one at this point. We hadn't even seen one except online, and we wanted to see one up-close, to sit in one, to get the feel, and to drive one. Buying one wasn't even in the cards, at this point, and as I said, we had already looked at the Ionic and hadn't scratched it off our list.
The second dealership was further out in Ottawa's east end, next to where we had bought our Honda CR-V, a little more than five years earlier. The salesperson was a bit more helpful, even though he also had no Niros in stock. He talked to us about what we were looking for in a vehicle, and tried to steer us to another vehicle, a Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
As friendly as he was, we were only interested in checking out a Niro. And besides, DW and I had test-driven this Mitsubishi vehicle a few weeks earlier, at an electric-car information centre, in Toronto, and as much as we liked the vehicle, we had ruled out owning a PHEV.
Rather than drive all over the city, burning fuel in our search for a hybrid, we began calling other dealerships to see if they had a Niro in stock.
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| The photo I took after signing the paperwork. |
When we arrived at the dealership, we found our salesperson but the Niro was out for a test drive with another customer. Our salesperson said that the Niro had suddenly become popular and it was hard getting one in. We said that we were in no rush but that we did want to give one a test drive before we would even consider it as a candidate.
The car returned to the lot within a few minutes, and the other customer and salesperson emerged from the vehicle. Our salesperson took the keys, gave them to me, and the four of us (DW and Alex, in the back) were on our way.
It was the first KIA that I had driven since I lived in South Korea, in the late 1990s. Back then, KIAs were popular but didn't have a great rating. They didn't come close to the quality of Hyundai but they were better than Daewoo, one of Korea's other big manufacturers. The KIA that I had driven back then shuddered and rattled, and the fit and finish was cheap and nasty.
The Niro felt solid and was quiet. There were lots of features and it had something that DW has come to enjoy in a vehicle: a sunroof.
I drove the car a bit harder than I usually do, giving her more gas as I entered onto the 417, cornering faster than I do, and testing the feel of the brakes. All done safely, of course, and all within legal restrictions. I was impressed with this car's handling, especially when I compared it with our Focus.
The Niro was a better vehicle.
When we returned to the dealership, we saw that the previous customer was still sitting with his salesperson, obviously working out a deal. Our salesperson wanted to talk numbers with us, and we expected this, but we were still operating under the assumption that we were still shopping and were not ready to make a deal.
Our salesperson offered us $500 more for our Focus than the Hyundai dealer had offered. He threw in winter tires and rims. He knocked down the price three times. He upgraded the quality of the winter tires from Kumho to Michelins.
We got to a number that we liked but we said that we were still just shopping. If our salesperson could hold his offer until Wednesday, we'd make up our mind by then.
He said he could, but there was no guarantee that this Niro would still be there. The other customer was still negotiating with his salesperson, and we were told that the Niros don't usually stay in stock for more than a couple of days.
That's okay, we said, if this one was sold before we could make a decision, we'd order another.
"I can't guarantee that we'll be able to get in another 2019," our salesperson said. "The 2020s are now out. And if I can't get a 2019, I won't be able to sell you a 2020 at this price."
DW, my friend, and I saw this as a heavy sales tactic and were ready to leave, but then DW spoke up, surprising me. "What if we go for this," she said.
Now, DW has been telling me for years that she felt I had pressured her into buying the Focus, even though we had driven several competing cars and had decided that the Ford was in our top two. All things being equal, I liked the look of the Focus over all of the other cars we drove: Civic, Elantra, Matrix. Because the manager of the Ford store was a friend of my fathers, who had also sold cars for decades, we got about $7,000 off the list price, and the interior had a limited black-and-white leather that I really liked.
I was the one who pulled the trigger on the Focus, and DW reminded me of that every time something went wrong with the car.
"You want to do this?" I asked DW.
Earlier, when we were driving around the city, searching other dealerships, DW and I said that if we were going to move to a hybrid, we might not just want to find a replacement for the Focus, which is what the Ionic was going to do. We thought that we might want something a bit bigger: not as big as our CR-V but something that offered more cargo space. On our test drive, we discovered that the Niro had ridiculously large rear-seat passenger space. Both DW and Alex commented on the ample leg room and head clearance. But the cargo space was significantly larger than what the Ionic offered.
"This vehicle has the space we want but is still not a big vehicle." DW knows that I like cars, rather than SUVs, and I like being lower to the ground.
We had also eyed the Hyundai Kona but were looking at the full EV model. We had knocked it off our list when we crunched the numbers, and it didn't offer a hybrid version.
Essentially, it was the Ionic or the Niro, and we were staring at a pretty good deal.
Now, there was a part of us that wondered if the other customer was actually a ploy, another salesperson who was pretending to be interested to add more pressure on us to make a swift decision. But one thing was clear: this was the model and trim level we wanted. It was in my second choice for colour (black) but we learned that my first choice (red) wasn't available for the Premium EX.
And this one was right here.
We signed the papers and our salesperson placed a Sold sign on the windscreen.
One year ago today.
I have to say that I have enjoyed the Niro far more than I thought I would. It drives very nicely and has more bells and whistles than I know what to do with. The fuel economy is amazing, letting me drive about 800 kilometres on a 45-litre tank. It's comfortable and roomy.
And while it's not the best looking car I've ever had, it's growing on me (especially when DW and I have our kayaks strapped on top).
It's not quite a year since we took possession of our Niro but one of the best things about it is that it has been trouble-free. By the end of our first year with the Ford Focus, we had been in to the dealership twice to deal with transmission problems. Those problems never went away and more crept up.
We've had no regrets, and that makes the swift purchase worthwhile.
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