Rain, Rain, Stick Around

It's rained for about a week now, and it seems like we've been busy the whole time, with over 20 customers taking advantage of our excellent deals this weekend alone! One of them managed to get his hands on the 2006 Acura RL before I even had a chance to take pictures of it or feature it as Car of the Day, so it looks like the Rav-4 will be today's featured vehicle in its place.



This is a 2007 4x4 Toyota Rav-4 with all the cargo space you need, power locks windows and mirrors rated by the EPA at an impressive 26 mpg highway. A friend of mine owns a black 2007 Rav-4 and he's piled over 100,000 without any problems, driving back and forth to Maine every week for work. This car may not be quite so experienced, and it's certainly much cleaner and you'll be hard-pressed to find a better deal. Go ahead and search, and you'll always end up back at Bourne's.

There are a few 2008 Saab 9-3s that just came in, as well as a great deal on a 2007 Ford Explorer with factory-installed navigation.

Some post-Thanksgiving cars to chew on

It's not often we get BMW 545is in here and when we do, they always draw a lot of interest. Right now we have not one, but two different four door 5 Series BMWs with 325 hp V8s. We've sold a few of them in my time here at Bourne's and I've been told by at least one buyer that they'll keep up with an M3 on the highway, and at a substantially smaller cost.

While the 545i has abundant power and handling to match, you can't forget about the style and comfort of a BMW 5-series. This has got to be one of my favorite cars to drive, even in the relatively less powerful and more efficient 525i(which we just so happen to also have in stock), due to crisp handling, a comfortable ride and of course the elegant style that is unmatched outside of Germany. Both have the innovative iDrive system, leather interior, moon roof, power everything, Dynamic Stability Control and more, but the 2005 comes with a factory installed navigation system, while the buyer of the less expensive 2004 model will need to invest in a portable GPS.

Either way, the 545i offers one of the most exhilarating driving experiences available!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a reminder, we're all going to be gorging ourselves catatonic on turkey and mashed potatoes and all that tomorrow, so we won't be open for sales or service, but Bournes.com will still be there and(mostly) up to date. Enjoy yourselves and don't get too crazy on Black Friday!

Not much new inventory today

The only car I added today was a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire with 72k. It's your classic commuter car, rated for 30 mpg(although the users over at fueleconomy.com report up to 37 mpg), automatic transmission, power locks windows and mirrors, a CD player, ABS and not a whole lot else. Hey, it's only $4,690, so it's a perfect car for a new driver or a car to drive in the winter while you garage your Mustang or Porsche or whatever it is that you can't stand to get salty on the roads.

Happy weekend and remember to come down on Saturday and see Dave Pair, Dave Olson and Gerard Flaherty, our trio of talented salesmen!

P.S. Jay suggested I get some lights to try and get rid of some of the shadows in the pics, but I'm not convinced it helped. Would white lights make more sense? Are these not intense enough? I want to make sure the pictures come out well so everyone can get a good feel for the car, but man, it's not easy.

SPOT THE SCION!!

The Bourne's Scion is a fixture in Easton, but you'll find it all over the place. I've driven it as far as upstate New York, and I'm sure it's gone farther than that. It's pushing 100,000 miles now, but it still runs like a top and gives us a great mix of gas mileage, interior room and a whole bunch of exterior advertising space.

It's not without its controversy, however, as many customers refuse to drive it as a loaner. I guess I understand how it might be tough to hop in a car that is affectionally referred to as "The Toaster," "The Lunchbox" and "That Little Clown Car." One of our service clients was brave enough to take the Scion to South Boston, and that's where this picture was taken:


Anytime you see the Scion, snap a picture with your cell phone and email it to us(brian@bournes.com or sales@bournes.com works just fine), or text it to one of the Bourne's crew if you've got the digits. I'd post mine, but I know I'd be inundated with requests for candid photos and I have a real hard time saying no.

Dog of the Day

This 14 year old collie/lab mix stopped by the dealership today in a 2008 Volvo XC90 to get a flat tire fixed. He's named Maestro! That's gotta be one of the coolest dog names of all time, although there was a little firecracker named Pepper that used to come in from time to time.

We love (friendly) dogs here at Bourne's, so feel free to bring Fido on down when you shop around!

Winter is on its way!

Two winters ago we were attacked by an abominable snowman

Is it getting cold or what? I find myself using the heated seats in my Saab every time I hop in, and there's frost on our 200+ car lot at 9:05 every morning when I stroll into Bourne's. Customers are asking me to bring cars inside so they don't have to stand in the cold and I actually started wearing a jacket.

Winter is coming, and when you come to Bourne's we do have a wide variety of vehicles with All Wheel Drive, heated seats, heated steering wheels even, and remote starters are available for every car on the lot. We're in New England so winter gets cold, we get snow and the roads can get really slick, so you want to make sure you have a vehicle that's ready for whatever Father Winter throws your way.

One of the most common concerns about winter driving that I hear from customers is that they absolutely need All Wheel Drive in order to make it through. While an AWD vehicle is a great choice for getting up hills on a snowy day, they absolutely will not prevent a crash. A car accident is rarely caused by a car that can't get up to speed, but rather by a vehicle that can't stop to avoid running off the road, an obstacle or another car.

This is where Electronic Stability Control comes into play. Many of the vehicles here at Bourne's come equipped with this novel and excellent safety feature that works by detecting a vehicle that is skidding out of control and cuts power to the engine while simultaneously sending braking power to individual wheels to get you out of the skid and out of harm's way. This is available on many Chrysler SUVs as well as most luxury vehicles. Ask your salesman if you're not sure and he'll be happy to identify the important safety features of our inventory.

Anti-lock Braking Systems are an oft-overlooked safety feature that is much more widely available and more affordable than finding a car with ESC. ABS detects a skid upon braking and pulsates the pedal to help bring you out of the skid, much like your Driver's Ed instructor likely taught you to pulse the brake pedal rather than holding it in snowy weather. An ABS-equipped vehicle will give even a panicked driver the benefit of skilled braking.

Of course, there's no substitute for safe driving: reduced speed under snowy or rainy conditions, extra following distance between you and the car ahead of you, and just flat out staying home when there's a foot of snow on the road. Where the heck do you need to be so badly, anyway?

Related:

The Autocheck Advantage

Price or Miles?

Sweet Spolier

I can assure you that this car goes really fast

A whole lotta cars

215 cars at last count! It wasn't much more than a month ago that we were showing only 125 cars on the website, with probably 20 of those awaiting delivery. It's been crazy around here as we've nearly doubled our inventory with a wide variety of vehicles, including a whole bunch of accords, some Altimas in both recent body styles(including a Hybrid!), a pretty near-new 2009 Jeep Liberty, a Honda CR-V(one of the vehicles most requested by customers), some Maximas, a Chevy Malibu Maxx LT that is the only station wagon I've ever seen with factory DVD, a Honda Ridgeline and a whole bunch more.

We've been so busy that we've had to add a lot attendant to our staff to help manage a lot that got crowded quite quickly, so if you see a tall guy with blonde hair moving cars, say hello to Irvin, the newest member of the Bourne's Team.

And now for the Car of the Day....



This is one of the more unique vehicles we've had through here in a while. Traded in on that very nice orange Corvette I posted about in September, this Mercedes is an IMMACULATE Slate Blue Designo edition with a removable hardtop, a 322 hp V8, two tone leather seats, maple charcoal trim, and under 40,000 miles! This really is a special car in exceptional condition. If you love cars, and you take good care of them, you will be impressed by this truly beautiful Mercedes

2010 MotorTrend Car of the Year is....

The 2010 Ford Fusion!!! It is no wonder we can't keep this affordable, reliable and sleek looking vehicle on the shelf! We did just get one in, that is priced to move. Due to the demand and the safety of this vehicle keep checking back as I am sure we will have more of these coming in the next couple of weeks!

OK I finally got the picture

I was going to do it last night, but the camera decided it wanted to quit focusing. I managed to replace it with a sweet upgraded model today, and here's the first picture I've taken for the site:

Isn't the new body style awesome? The Murano always had an aggressive look to it, and this new one builds on it with a bit of class, I'd say.

Anyway, we got a Hummer H2, a loaded up Eddie Bauer Expedition and a convertible Saab 9-3 as well.

Enjoy the weekend, and swing by between 9 am and 4 pm on Saturday or between 11 am and 3 pm on Sunday to check out the inventory!

Mention the blog and the salesmen will be honor-bound to make sure you get a full tank of gas when you take your car home.

Yeah, I know

I know I promised that I'd have pictures of the 2009 Murano up today, but I got so caught up with the new Volvo S80s and XC90s we just got in, that I didn't have time. I promise you it's a nice car.

Speaking of nice cars........


I always show the front of the cars, but what about the tailgate? This car is sharp from any angle

This XC90 is positively LOADED. Pretty much all of the XC90s we get here at Bourne's come with heated leather seats, a moon roof, all wheel drive and all the fancy safety features that you expect out of a Volvo. About half of the ones we get have the 3rd row seating, Navigation systems and DVD players are pretty rare and running boards just about never show up. This one has it all, including a ski attachment for the roof rack!

As I went through the car I kept looking for flaws(because I'm a pessimist), and I finally found a couple little imperfections in the rear bumper, but it didn't dampen my enthusiasm for this vehicle. This is, overall, the most impressive XC90 I've seen come through 135 Belmont st, and I can't wait to find a good home for it.

Even more new inventory

Things have been fast and furious around here lately, so much so that we've had to open up our second lot in Brockton to hold all of our inventory. Located at 1029 Pearl St(at the intersection of Pearl and W Chestnut), this lot currently holds about 20 cars, mostly vehicles in the $10,000 range. If you've been to Bourne's in the past week, then you know how we've received a whole bunch of new inventory and the lot has been a mess. Calvin Bourne, the patriarch of the dealership, stepped in and helped Dennis and I bring another dozen cars over today, so Brockton is pretty well stocked.

We got another CTS(bringing our total up to 10 of Cadillac's sport-luxury sedan), another STS, a sweet black Pontiac G6 GTP hardtop convertible and a few others, including a really nice 2006 Ford Escape with leather interior and a roof rack that makes it look like it's ready for a safari.


Don't you want to hop in and drive off into the wilderness with this thing?

Oh yeah, there's a 2009 Murano on the lot now, and I'll get some pictures up tomorrow when it's light out. Yeah, I know, you're holding your breath for it