When I was 17, my parents handed me the keys to my mom’s 1990 Chevy Lumina (before the days of keyless entry and just two years after clear coat was introduced). It was fully loaded for that time period. Why she wanted it: it was the pace car in Days of Thunder.

Not the actual one I owned but the exact model.
Well, in 1997 an elderly lady T-boned me and the car was rendered totaled. To replace it, I was bought a brand new Ford Escort ZSX in red. Although I had a heavy foot, I learned that red is not the color to own if you don’t want to get caught speeding.

Again, not the actual car I owned but the exact model.
Three years later and I noticed the paint was cracking on the hood. I also noticed that the car was actually assembled in Mexico. Not that there is a direct correlation but it was enough for me to beg my dad for a new car. Being that we were (sort of) still a Chevy family and had been going to the same dealership for 20 years, he helped buy my 2001 Chevy Cavalier Z24 (“The Ferrari of Cavaliers” my friend once dubbed it).

I actually loved this car – it came with a CD player… and keyless entry
I loved this car until I moved to Seattle and it did something weird – at high speeds (55 MPH+) the gas tank would cut out and I’d have to coast it to the side of the road and restart the engine. It was then I decided I was done with American-made cars. (Side note: Most “American-made” cars are still partially made in other countries so I don’t feel totally guilty pulling away from buying only American-made.)
And so, in 2004, I said goodbye to cheaper car payments and hello to foreign-made luxury brands. My entry point into this world was a 2001 Lexus IS 300. It was quite literally the perfect car. I’ve not seen something truly perfect come out of Lexus since. And, after getting the brakes replaced, found out some more interesting things about this car: The Polish movie director that once owned this in West Hollywood had imported it straight from Japan with a Japanese racing engine (this explains how quick it was). I drove this thing from Houston, TX to San Diego, CA and then in 2008, back to DC. I put over 100,000 miles on it and probably could have kept running it.

But true to form, I decided to sell it, in favor of something newer with less miles. Okay well, I wasn’t really in the market, per say, but decided to poke around. I went to Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria and there it was – the perfect car for me – my 2006 Mercedes SLK 350. Clearly still in San Diego mode, I thought that this car would be perfect (side note: although (wrongfully) driven in snow, I must have had a death wish) – warm days with the top down, fully loaded with everything I could hope for and just the perfect new “best friend” to take everywhere.

Until… late 2010 when a major problem happened with it, and then I needed new tires every 20,000 miles, and oh, the brakes that needed to be replaced happened to require the most expensive brakes on the market. That. Was. It. While I was almost willing to continue to suck up the cost of owning something that brought me so much joy, my superhero of a boyfriend let me borrow his Infiniti G37 Xs and from there, I was hooked back on Japanese-made cars. Thankfully, he recognized my quick love of it and talked me into considering a trade-in with a lease just a few days later. Given the high cost to drive a dream car, I decided it was probably best to put me in something a bit more practical, less expensive and definitely more reliable.
Thus, all negotiated on my behalf, Infiniti of Tysons agreed to buy my Mercedes at my pay off amount and put me in a fully-loaded 2012 G37X coupe for $200 less than what I was paying previously. I showed up at the dealership, picked the color I wanted (from what was available) and signed the paperwork.
In case you’re looking for a brand new car to lease – something that’s fast, smooth and a techie’s dream, here are a few things about the car:

- It’s 330 hp but you wouldn’t know it. I’ve caught myself looking down at the speedometer, wondering how I got from 0 – 50 so quickly and oh crap, it’s a 35 MPH speed zone. It’s also quiet… until the turbo sound kicks in when you step on the gas (refer back to heavy foot).
- It has XM, CD, radio, iPod, Bluetooth streaming and digital music upload options. It also has 7 Bose speakers. People who have ever been around me, know how much I love my music and at concert-sound levels
- It has the best navigation I’ve seen, including letting you know where floods and gale force winds are (about a 25 mile range).
- It has a touch button start – no need for keys anymore (okay, well except to lock/unlock the car and trunk)
- It has a rear camera with sensors. As my boyfriend has told me, he will fall over laughing if I back into anything.
- It has two memory settings for mirrors and seats, adjusting everything when you press the button. Since mine is a two-door, I have the added task of pushing the seats forward so people can get in the back seat. These have a one-button system that automatically shifts the seat forward for you and then restores it back to your setting, once the passenger is in.
- I’ve never seen illuminated kick plates until now
I’d highly recommend at least test-driving it.
Need some referrals of people to go see? Terrence Abraham is the Manager and he is phenomenal. He worked in concert with Ahmed Eldak (sales consultant) to make sure that everything was prepared by the time I got there, including lining up all the colors available in the model I was looking at so I could choose the color and sign the paperwork, WHICH was already prepared by the time I got there. Their finance manager, Basher El-Fiky, was just as great, walking me through the lease, the additional options with the lease and being completely honest on which options might make sense for me. He had me out of there as quick as paperwork can be reviewed and signed. But, before I left, Ahmed walked me through the highlights of the user guide, showing me all the features of how to run the cockpit. Had he not done that, I would most likely still be pressing buttons to see what they do
If you are convinced, tell them I sent you. If not, I will leave you with one last piece of advice. It’s much easier (and cheaper) to lease a luxury car than to buy one. Not only am I now an Infiniti convert, I’m also a huge fan of never outright buying another car again.