Luxury cars? Not for me. I'm the sort of person who eats pot roast and drinks iced tea and generally keeps it simple.

Then my beloved Mazda 626 was destroyed by one of Mother Nature's dumber creatures and suddenly I found myself car-shopping, and I reasoned: "You know, the people who paid the long dollar for the luxo brands - maybe they took better care of them."

Which is basically how I found myself in an I30. Nearing 90,000 miles, it's downright pristine: there's a scuff on the dash to the left of the odo, and one of the CD buttons is showing some signs of having been pressed a few zillion times, but otherwise, this baby looks practically new - except, of course, for her two-generations-ago styling.

One thing that took some getting used to was the lack of noise; I actually tried to restart it once at a gas pump because I thought it didn't start. For all I know, the V6 makes a tremendous racket, but the only time I've ever heard it was when I had the revs way up in the 5500 range, and even then it was muted: I had no idea I was going that fast. (A word to the wise: Watch that speed.)

I am six feet tall, mostly above the waist, so headroom is an issue for me. Saints be praised, the sunroof is cut in such a way so I don't bang my head against it, although admittedly I have to drop the power seat to about as low as it will go. Said seats don't have a lot of thigh support, but then I don't have a lot of thigh to support.

But the real surprise is that the I30 likes to play, even if it seems a trifle aloof at first: there's plenty of acceleration, the turning circle is nice and tight (I am told that the I30t, with bigger wheels, is less so), and only the worst bumps upset its composure. Not that you'll hear any of that stuff with the Bose stereo cranked even halfway up.

Okay, there's enough fake wood in here to make you mourn the loss of a whole plastic forest, and they really needed a four-position mount for the rear license plate - it rattles when you close the trunk lid - but this is about the least amount of buyer's remorse I've ever had.
Amount Paid (US$): 12400
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2000
Model and Options: "Luxury" (base), heated seats/mirrors