If the dealer’s service department is trying to get its existing customers hooked on to the brand, then our car dealer is surely succeeding.

The wife took the car in for a regular service over the weekend, and complained to them about some jerks she faced while accelerating. A few hours later she got a call from the service department saying that they found some issues with the transmission and since the car was under warranty, they will replace it at no cost. Also, since it was going to take about a week to get it done, they would let us have a loaner car and we should go by and pick it up.

We went there and were pleasantly surprised when we found out that the ‘loaner’ car is actually a 2006 version, fully loaded! I mean, fully loaded:

1. Voice-activated navigation system
2. Sunroof/moonroof
3. Heated leather seats
4. Heated side mirrors
5. XM satellite radio
6. Handsfree phone link

I was amazed. The car is zippy and the suspension is tight. Feels wonderful to drive. I love it so far and would keep driving for the whole week.

The only thing is that it is smaller than the car we currently have and we do need the space. So I don’t think we are truly in the market for that car (or as the case is, any car), but we are going to talk to a lot of people about how good the TSX is.