David Chiu

For the past year Heather and I have been sharing one car - a 1993 Ford Taurus. In reality, it’s actually Heather’s car which was given to her from her family. The car is actually still in decent shape but we’re starting to plan to replace it with a newer car - two newer cars if we could. So for the past couple of months we have both been car shopping while driving around town. Los Angeles is of course, the ultimate place to do car shopping while driving. Here around town and on the freeways you will see every car imaginable from the latest exotic sports cars, luxury vehicles and SUV’s to souped up import cars, classic muscle cars and vintage automobiles that belong in a museum. People in LA love their cars and every gadget and gizmo that goes with it. Tricked out SUV’s with 22-inch chrome spinner wheels, tinted windows and DVD systems are a common thing in both Beverly Hills and the ‘hood. BMW’s, Mercedes and Porches aren’t all that special since everyone seems to have one. Heck, theres a 2003 Mercedes parked down the street in my ‘hood. The person who drives that car lives in a small rundown house, but somehow they own that Mercedes. Every once in a while I’m impressed by a car, but most of the time not. You get used to seeing $300k Bentlys, Ferraris and Aston Martins.

I think that if I ever became a big “movie star” I would want to buck the trend and drive something different than everyone else. I’m not sure what, but something more sleek and elegant, less flashy and expensive.

Anyway, right now I have my eyes on the Honda Prius. Heather doesn’t care for the styling or the fact that it doesn’t come with a leather interior, but I think the car is pretty hot. It also happens to get 55 miles per gallon and has some of the most innovative technologies built in.

Heather happens to like the Mini, the Beetle (she leased one when they first came out) and the new convertible PT Cruiser.

As for SUV’s I really like the Touareg and the Volvo XC90.

But right now it’s all just window shopping. Then again, maybe I can get our car on that new MTV show “Pimp my Ride“. (Our new favorite show)