I just picked this car up last Thursday and decided to write a few things about it. It’s the second car I’ve owned as of now, previous one being a Toyota Camry 1997 CE V6 3.0L. I needed a car that was big enough to transport company computers and my subwoofers, not to mention offer a smooth ride that handled well on the road. After careful consideration from a dozen available SUVs, I hit up my local Mazda dealership and took it for a test drive to see how well it performed.

Switching to this new ride was a bit scary I must admit, as I didn’t want to lose out on the road handling ability that regular cars have and certain other minor features, such as a sub-standard audio system (ugh… I hate stock stereos… I’m used to my JBL setup in the Camry). Regardless, I visited my dealership (Mazda des Sources) and spoke with Patrick, who was a pretty friendly guy. We went over the cars details, and he showcased me two trims they had in stock: the GX-V6 (a demo car) and a GS-V6. I knew right there and then that the demo model would be much cheaper (cost is important ya know!). The numbers were calculated for a 48 month lease and the demo came out to 375$/month with 0$ down. Ding! I took it for a test drive and liked it; it handled great. The steering, braking and general feel of the vehicle felt like a regular car and not like a truck or full-blown SUV. They call these automobiles “crossover SUVs” and this label seems to fit the style well.

So, after pondering about purchasing this vehicle over the weekend, I called in Monday and told Patrick that I’d be coming over the following morning to sign the lease papers and pay the deposit. Everything went smoothly until the credit application came. Since I was a co-signer (alongside the company) there was a bit of trouble processing my side of the deal as I don’t really have any credit. 🙂 Anyway, the woman handling the credit application managed to do something about it after calling BMW Financial (whom my company has credit with) to see if we’re in good-standing in the credit department. Of course, everything went by well and before you know it, I was driving the Tribute by Thursday afternoon. The car is what I had expected. It has power-everything, fold-able seats, cruise control, storage space, cargo-cover and tinted windows.

I just have to say it again: the stock stereo system sucks big time. I am now in the process of moving my JBL setup from the Camry into the Tribute. All I need to do now is find the proper routes for the wires (where’s the damn firewall?!) and make sure I don’t make any unnecessary holes or break something in the car while doing the installation. It’s a leased car for 4 years, which I find is worth to do a custom audio installation. I think I’ll be posting a step-by-step guide on how to do an installation for the Tribute, as no guides exist for it yet…