What color car are you looking for, sweetie?

Craig and I went to look at cars last weekend (the reason for that is another story entirely). Now, I'm the first to admit that my criteria for a new car is vague at best. I want a small car - I drive a Mini Cooper that I love and I feel like a behemoth driving Craig's MDX. But I do not want to feel like a giant INSIDE the car - it must have headroom and very adjustable seats. And because I hate getting fuel (so much so that I drove out of my way to pay extra at a full service station for years), I'd consider an electric or hybrid.

(This is my neighbor's VOLT. I saw it charging in the driveway when I was walking on Monday and had to take a picture because this was one of the cars I looked at last weekend...and I found it a little strange to see it charging in the driveway.)

Looking mostly at electrics and hybrids last weekend, I think I stumped the salespeople when I answered in the negative to their first question: "Do you drive a lot?" Okay, so you can't sell me one the fuel savings and I realize this has thrown you off your pitch. But why on earth is your next question: "What color car are you looking for?"

Do they really think that if I sat in the right color car I would decide I needed to have *that* car? We are looking at brand new cars. Do they think I don't know I could get any of these cars in the color I wanted? I found this a little insulting, especially as the salespeople never asked Craig what color he wanted. They asked him questions about the CAR we were looking for, not the paint.

Of course, my faith was restored when I went to the MINI dealership. There, the salesman explained to me the difference in size between all the models (one is 10 inches longer than my car, the other is 15.5 inches longer and 6.5 inches wider). He showed me the different backseat options. He started up a car on the showroom floor to show me the navigation system. And he only mentioned in passing, after discussing the vehicles for thirty minutes, that the cars came in a variety of colors with different packages.