DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Heather At The Lowe Art Museum

Q: Welcome to Defend Your Ride Miami! What can you tell us about your ride Heather?

A: I love my ride. It is a really cute car. I am a Volkswagen person. I've had several Volkswagens throughout my driving life. My very first car was a 1967 Bug. That was my first start of loving a German automobile.

Q: What do you especially like about Volkswagens?

A: I've always found Volkswagens and German engineering to be really reliable. They have little small things that make so much sense, like the way the armrest works. It moves forward and backwards and up and down. Small details that probably didn't take much for the company to implement, but make a difference in the car. And it's affordable. It's affordable to drive. It was affordable to buy.

Q: How do you feel about driving a VW when so many people around Miami have such flashy cars?

A: When you live in a city like Miami where people are so focused on their vehicles and what you drive, it's liberating to me to be driving an economical vehicle. And when I drive by people in their Beemer 700 series, I actually feel bad for them.

Q: Did you have a good experience buying it?

A: My experience buying it was great. I had a figure in mind with what I wanted to spend. I went in and said I'm going to buy a car today, whether it's here or somewhere else remains to be seen and this is what I'm looking for.

Q: What were you looking for?

A: I had some basics in mind. I wanted a manual transmission and I wanted a sunroof, so they showed me a few cars. The car I am driving now just happened to be was sitting right there. I said, this looks like a perfect car!

Q: Then what happened?

A: I went in and said, "Look, I am going to buy a car today and this is the car I want to buy. Whether I buy it or not depends on how much you're willing to sell it to me for. I said to the salesperson, "I don't want to go back and forth with you and the sales manager. I just want your best price first and foremost because that is the price I will use to decide whether or not I will buy the car." He went with his sales manager and they came back with an offer that was $800 less than I was willing to spend. So I said, "Sold." I signed the papers and it was done. So it was a good experience.

Q: That's a great buying tactic. Do you have any rules in your car?

A: There is no smoking for anyone who smokes. There's no eating. Once in a great while I break the no eating thing if my daughter has after school and she's been there a long time and she cries that she's hungry. She knows we like to keep it clean.

Q: Anything else about your car?

A: It's a great car and I'd recommend it to anyone!