The new Sage-Mobile

Everyone around town came to know the old white Subaru as the "Sage-Mobile". It was a very distinctive car here in Holland...we have only seen one other Subaru Outback Wagon in the two years that we've lived here. Throw an extended roof-rack on top and the Sage-Mobile was unmistakable.

Friends would beep and wave when they saw us drive by and many would SMS me as soon as they saw that the Subie was parked in front of any one of our local parks, wanting to join us for a walk. What started out as an icon that immediately marked us as Expat Americans, over time turned into something that identified us uniquely as Dan and Beth.

But now all that has changed. We picked up the new Audi A4 last weekend and will be sending the Subaru off to greener pastures.

We ordered the Audi on-line at Beth's company auto leasing website over four months ago. It is a smart site that controls who is logged in and what they are allowed to order. We were like kids in a candy shop as we kept adding options or upgrading things on the car. Our only self-imposed criteria was that the car had to be German, just in case she ever drives it down to HQ in Heidelberg. The web site never refused anything that we asked for and both of our jaws dropped when we saw the final price tag of what we had built.

Beth's company is paying for everything, including the taxes, ongoing maintenance, insurance, and gasoline...yes, even gasoline. It was a deal that we just couldn't pass up.

We're a bit sad to see the ol' Subaru go. It had its share of problems, but all-in-all it was a pretty good car. Audi A4's are a dime a dozen over here, so we're no longer instantly recognizable when driving it around Haarlem. But, come to think of it, maybe that's a good thing.