GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi,Well, so much for a happy birthday.I am new here....posted earlier today that my new Vibe would be delivered tomorrow morning, which is now not going to happen. (For picture of my would-be car, please look to the left at my avatar).Last night, I signed a contract and paid a deposit for a Platinum two-tone base model. My dealer didn't have the monotone one I wanted, and so they had to go over to Pennsylvania to pick it up from another dealer. When the driver got there this afternoon, the car I'd contracted to buy had been sold and delivered to someone else by the PA dealer. Apparently, there is no written contract between the two dealerships....just the possessory dealer's word that the car will be there when the selling dealer goes to collect it. My local NJ dealer seemed truly upset about this. They knew it was my birthday, and although they'd offered to drive it to my house tomorrow morning (I'm 35 miles from the dealer), they had planned to surprise me with it tonight. They said they were flipping coins to decide who was going to call me to tell me that the car was gone because no one wanted to interrupt my birthday dinner.All those apologies didn't do me much good. All they could do was to offer to try to find me another similar one. Problem is, I really do not care for the monotone, and I am dead set on platinum. I can't get a sun roof because hubby is 6'7" and can't fit in it if it has one. Don't feel like ABS and side curtain airbags are options I can live without; safety is just too important. So, after an exhaustive search, the dealer located a second one, six hours away in upstate NY. But it's not the color I wanted; it's stealth. Now, that's a perfectly fine color, but it's not the car I had my heart set on. There is not another platinum two tone without a sunroof with the ABS and side curtain airbags within a six hour driving distance radius. I would take extra options and pay for them, but some of the packages come with a sunroof and two others come with the monotone. Anyway, because they cannot locate the car I want and therefore cannot make the sale, my apologetic NJ dealer cannot do anything else for me. I am on my own from here.(Is anyone feeling my pain here? Were any of you set on color this much, or has the four weeks of car research and decision-making made my brain a little mushy?)So, I've spent the last two hours on the phone trying to get help from Pontiac, first from customer assistance, then from and marketing and promotions. I'm asking them to do a national search for the car I want. By national, I mean within a 500 mile driving distance. Hopefully, they can locate one, I can wire a deposit tomorrow morning, and trust this won't happen again. If they can't find it within a 500 mile distance, I am going to use my art of persuasion (and sweet Georgia accent) to try convince someone higher up in marketing and promotions to consider extending the zero percent promotion to me for a car I can order. I'm doubtful this will work, though.Anyway, this was a bummer birthday. I'm not sure I love Pontiac anymore, although I still think the Vibe is a great car. Maybe next week I can post again that I finally own one. Sheesh, you'd think I was trying to buy a Prius or something!

Thats just jacked up Why would dealerships skrew each other like this and cause trouble for customers who are purchasing their product. GM should have a policy like this as Im sure they would not be happy if you decided to spend your money elsewhere and with another brand because of this crap.

Wow sorry to hear about your troubles, sounds like a pretty rotten experience. At least you dealership ws trying to get you what you wanted, usually they stop after your search leaves their lot. Keep looking, one is bound to turn up that you like soon.

It's a lot of money, and hopefully you will have the car for a long time, so if you can wait for it, then get what you want. You don't want to look at it every day and think " It's not what I wanted" Conversely, if you settle for a different color, then pretty soon you will realize that the one you got is a really nice color too.

Only YOU can decide but I'd opt for the Stealth. There are some colors I could not stomach, but this seems like "close enough". IMO the options you want are more important than the exact color.

Totally feel for you!Like you, ABS and side/curtain airbags were "must-haves" for me, as was 5-speed tranny. I was also dead-set on white or silver.My dealer did a far-ranging search, and wound up going to Illinois from Texas to get it.I would stick to your guns and keep trying to locate one. If no luck, I'd give the monotone a shot. The 2-tone cladding tends not to look in as good condition for as long as the painted. However, as joatmon said, it's a lot of your money. Get what you want!

If you have lots of time, you can do your own online search at http://www.pontiac.com for Vibes using zipcodes for large cities near you. (Get the zipcodes from http://www.usps.com.)Doing the 'Build Your Pontiac' will let you specify options, and give you a retail price. Then you can search by dealer name and/or zipcode.It will show you Vibes in the specified zipcode that match just one criteria (Base, GT, or AWD). The list price and color will be displayed for all Vibes, but you'll have to 'open' the sticker for each car to see what equipment is installed. I recall that there may be a limit of 25 or 50 matching cars displayed at a time.If you know the total price of the car equipped the way you want it, you might speed your searching somewhat, e.g. a $26,000 sticker price Vibe is likely to have just every option including leather and sunroof.With the ongoing GM 72-hour sale, you'd absolutely, positively have to call the dealer to be sure the car was there, you might find one on your own. (Unless you can 'guilt' YOUR dealer into making the calls for you, and then getting you the car.)Good luck!And, there's always the Toyota Matrix, although they don't make two-tone. It is available in Silver Streak Mica. Searching http://www.buyatoyota.com, the basic 2WD Matrix Automatic (Not the XR or XRS) has 'Package D' which includes ABS, side curtain air bags, cruise control, power windows, power locks, and remote keyless entry for $18,685 in your zipcode 08332

It's just awful how the vast majority of dealers order their cars. (they pick a set of options and all their cars are pretty much the same.) (I really feel sorry for anyone who wants a base with manual tranny!) I wanted ABS which very few in this area have, and had to get it with the monotone, sunroof, etc. It came from about 80 miles away. Its color is Stealth, which I had not seen in person, but I am very pleased with the color. I hope you will be flexible on the color. There are lots of silver ones out there but very few Stealth. Stealth probably looks better with monotone than "2-tone", also. Also, has your husband sat in one with a sunroof and definitely ruled it out?

Thats a bummer. IMO options should out weigh the color. When I got mine, they didn't have one with the options I wanted and with my top 3 color choices. They were able to locate one with all the options and with my 2nd color choice and had it transfered from another Pontiac dealership. At the same time you shouldn't have to compromise since your are willing to pay for what you want. I hope you find the one you want.

May I remind you that Pontiac dealers are independent of GM and Pontiac. Yes, they have agreements, but US laws govern what GM may require. I believe that the dealer is the one who did not perfrom good-faith agreement with the trading/selling dealer. They should have come to agreement that on that vehicle. I hope Pontiac assists you in finding the car.

Augh, that stinks! I would have been devistated! There's an AWD one here in Milford, CT that's otherwise the same, but it would be more expensive.

I am a little puzzled ... Does Kate want the monotone, or not?Quote, originally posted by Kate »My dealer didn't have the monotone one I wanted ... Problem is, I really do not care for the monotone

Hi....no I do NOT want the monotone. The drama continued today. The PA dealer's sales manager (who my dealer accused of selling the car out from under me) was super nice when he called me in response to my voice mail from last night in which I told him how upset I was at his unethical practices. He said that the NJ dealer had called to inquire about the car on Monday morning, and he'd agreed to hold it. However, he didn't hear from my dealer until THURSDAY AFTERNOON, when the NJ dealer called to say he was sending a driver to pick it up later that day. It was sold Thursday morning, on the fourth business day, when the PA dealer didn't hear from my dealer. He also said that my dealer lied about sending the driver to pick up the car. No driver ever went.I called my NJ dealer, with whom I'd signed the contract, and they could not even tell me the last name of the supposed driver, this despite the driver being their employee. I demanded to speak with the driver, because at this point, I didn't know who was lying as both dealers were saying the other was lying and the stories were in directly opposition. Ultimately, they said he was off for the weekend, which was probably true. But they acted very nervous when I reminded them that I am a lawyer and that they had broken a contract. All I knew was that the car was gone, and the remaining ones like it anywhere around me were also gone, and my dealer failed to deliver on his contract after I paid a deposit and signed the papers.Anyway, I found another platinum two tone with ABS and side curtain air bags and NO SUNROOF in Albany NY, 300 miles from me. The NJ dealer was willing to drive one of their new cars up to NY and do a swap, but NY didn't want a new car with 300 miles put on it for the transfer, so they refused to release the car. I called the NJ dealer back and insisted that he send a flatbed truck for the car in NY, and he said he couldn't do that.So, the end of the story is that I am taking a train from NJ to Albany on Monday morning, and I'm buying the car I want in Albany, then driving 300 miles home. I will have to pay and additional $550 in sales tax because NY is 8.25% versus 6% in NJ. I plan to keep my receipts for the train, gas, tolls and this additional tax and write a strongly worded letter to the owner of the NJ dealership as well as the national sales office of Pontiac. I have never had such a bad purchasing experience in my life, and both the NJ and PA dealers are slimy *******s, IMHO....or, at least one of them is, and I have no idea which. I just know I am having to spend my holiday weekend and several hundred dollars more just to get the car I want -- and I'd already contracted to buy! -- just because a slimy sales snake at one of these dealerships told me a big fat ugly lie.

That may be true, but I identify as a loyal GM customer -- all we've ever bought has been GM products. I think the national customer service/marketing departments at Pontiac would care to know how these dealers screwed me, and I plan to talk loudly and often about it until someone at least has the basic decency to even apologize! Sheesh!

In ohio you pay the sales tax from where you live.

Holy jerkoffs, Batman!!!What a run-around! Why couldn't they send a flatbed? My dealer sent one to do the exchange for mine. Sorry to hear you had to go through all that grief. Glad that you were finally able to get the options you wanted, though. Good luck with the trip this weekend.

I'm sorry to hear that. I agree with kostby to do a search from the website. The "locate this vehicle" feature has a drop down box state by state. Just do searches in the states you are willing to go. We had to wait awhile to get my Mom's Vibe (they brought it over from a dealer from another island) because at that time they only had one Vibe which had a standard tranny. I had to order my Vibe. They didn't have what I wanted; they wanted me to buy one on the lot. I was willing to do business on another island or even Guam if they wouldn't do the order...especially after we had already bought my mom's Vibe. I keep my Pontiacs for many years, so why should I buy what I don't want, right? Since I'm in Hawaii, the order takes between 30-90 days. I have been waiting anxiously for my Vibe. Tomorrow makes Day 50, but I know it'll be worth the wait. Maybe you could order one too? That way you get EXACTLY what you want and at the PRICE you want. I wish you the best of luck...they really are great cars. Hope to see pics of your Vibe soon!!!!!

I wish they would make ABS and maybe even side airbags standard, like much of the competition.

That sales tax thing doesn't make sense. I am sure there are a lot of NY rsidents who buy cars in NJ and vice versa and I am 99% sure that the sales tax depends on the state where you live. Also the car woudl; have to be titled in the state where you live. Let us know how this works out. As Albany is not close to the NY/NJ border perhaps that dealer has little or no experience in such sales.

Hey man i live in vineland, nj which is right next to millville. When i got my vibe the dealer that i went to could not have been any better. I am really sorry to hear that this purchase has been such a crap shoot. I look forward to seeing you on the road when u get your vibe.

Yesterday, I had the dealers from both PA and NJ calling me back and forth telling me the other was lying about what went down. Albany will not hold the one they have until Monday, even with a credit card deposit.So, after being truly beaten up by three different Pontiac dealers, a good friend took my hand and led me to her GMC dealer, who happens to also sell Subaru and VWs.I refused to look at any of the cars on the lot and in fact continued to take calls from the NJ dealer regarding cars he was trying to find. (He would not send a flatbed to NY, btw). I practically ignored my friend's dealer, didn't even say hello....just continued taking calls and making calls about the Vibe I wanted, which she (my friend's dealer) clearly didn't have.Then, in a moment of utter frustration with Pontiac (when NY said they would not take a deposit and I had to chance going up on Monday and hoping it was still there), I agreed to ride along with my friend as she test drove a lovely little cream colored New Beetle. Somehow, during that ride, I put away my cell phone and stopped looking at the pictures saved on it of the car I lost to the PA customer. We opened the sunroof and let the sun and a little breeze, turned on the Sirrius radio, relaxed back into the leather seats, and enjoyed the tight little ride the turbo diesel engine was giving to us. I was feeling....right....for the first time in a few days. Could it be? Dare I say it....farfegnugen??? When we got back to the dealership, I took a look at the sticker. 42 MPG on the highway, thanks to the turbo injected diesel engine. Standard ABS and side curtain airbags. Only slightly higher in price than the Vibe. Casually, I asked the dealer, "Now, I'm not interested in this car or anything, but if I were, what would your bottom line offer be?" She came back with $21K even.Quickly, I did the math...the $20K vibe in NY would cost me a few hundred dollars to retrieve, plus the hundreds of dollars in additonal sales tax....I would lose the zero percent financing....but the dealer got out a book that showed the resale/trade-in value on the VW after 3 years was 16K and the Vibe (with the same mileage) was only 9K.....checked online and found that the diesel VWs stay in demand due to the high MPG...and also felt a kind of, how can I say this? Click! -- with the marketing slogan: "Goodness Prevails!"Suddenly, I looked down at my feet and saw my Birkenstocks, and I realized my mom's car in her late 30s had been an original Beetle....memories of James Taylor on the radio and the windows down in that old gold bug from my childhood flooded over me....and, somehow, I found myself signing papers and feeling remarkably calm....So the conclusion to my long Pontiac Vibe saga is that I am now the proud (albeit surprised) new owner of a truly luxurious, well-appointed, cream-colored, tan leather and black interior with chrome accents new VW New Beetle.And I know I have come home.

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One more pic of my new addition...(and forgive me for posting a non-Vibe picture here...)

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Hey nice, Kate! Good to hear you got a car you are happy with. My brother & sister-in-law are big VW TDI fans. Enjoy it!And GM wonders why they're sinking into bankruptcy.....

well congrats on the new car.... now your outta here. no more posting you non-viber!!! Jk you went through a lot to get a vibe and i dont blame you for getting somethin else. GL with the new beetle

I used to want a bug back in the day, I still think they are kinda cool. congrats on the purchase, its a shame you had to go through so much to get something as simple as a new car.Now I own a Vibe but... lol you should have driven a Subaru...

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »you should have driven a Subaru... give me a break. The car she bought gets 40% better gas mileage than the best Subaru has to offer. Way to go Kate, you got your priorities straight. Too bad though, you'd have been a great viber

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »give me a break. The car she bought gets 40% better gas mileage than the best Subaru has to offer. Way to go Kate, you got your priorities straight. Too bad though, you'd have been a great viber Well I never suggested she buy a Subaru (read my comments closely) I simply suggested she should have driven one.

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik »Well I never suggested she buy a Subaru (read my comments closely) I simply suggested she should have driven one.I never claimed that you suggested she should have bought a Subaru (read my post carefully). Since you brought up Subaru, I was contasting your favorite brand with Kate's purchase, and complimenting her on the better mpgs. Subies suck at mpgs compared to Kate's NB, but they have other benefits, thats why people buy them. Your use of tense in "you should have driven a Subaru" indicates that whatever purpose there would be in Kate driving a Subaru is in the past. The event that happened is that she purchased a new car. What purpose were you proposing would be served by her driving a Subaru that is no longer valid now that she has commited to the purchase of a non-Subaru vehicle? I don't want to get you upset by my reading erroneous meanings into your posts, so tell me, why should she have driven a Subaru?

Quote, originally posted by joatmon » so tell me, why should she have driven a Subaru?Because for me anyway and all 30+ personal friends I know who own Subarus have so much fun driving them. Only my Vibe matchs that much fun when I'm rallying around cones.but we are taking her discussion way off topic and I only mentioned subaru because the dealership she went to sold subaru.

fine, but you seemed to get upset when it seemed like I implied that you said she should have bought a Subaru, and I was just trying to figure out how you were not saying she should have bought a Subaru. Not trying to be antagonistic, just defensive. So why would you have recommended she drive a Subaru while searching for a new car if not to suggest that she should have bought one? You have clearly stated that you were not suggesting she should have bought one, so why drive one?

Good morning, folks!Here is my position on Subaru. I looooooooooooove the Willow Green/Moss Metallic (two tone -- still hate the monotone where there is two tone available) Outback 3.0 LLBean edition. A few months back, Iest drove one in silver and had a really nice time doing so. If I am fortunate enough to ever get pregnant (and note here that I am 39), I will possibly trade in the NB for this Subaru....depsite the GREATLY reduced gas mileage, it's still got decent gas mileage and is safer/more room for a little pumpkindoodle. Until then, I will enjoy these last months/years of my youth by tooling around in my fine new VW with my camera gear in the trunk/backseat cargo area, and my shaggy Old English Sheepdog, Langston, sitting beside me in the front seat. Langston has already learned to stick his head out of the sun roof -- now THAT gets some looks and giggles as we drive around town! http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...83812#Seriously, my goal for a car purchase this time was to make an economical purchase with regard to cost and gas mileage. That I wound up with so many bells and whistles in this NB is just gravy!Have a great 4th, y'all!

Kate - Sorry to hear about your Pontiac/Vibe situation. I think the customer service end in the Auto Industry is lacking in general. I've had nothing but bad experiances with Dealers. All I can say is that I'm Happy that you did end up happy out of this whole thing. That is the Important Part. Enjoy it, especially the gas milage

All's well that ends well - but to be salivating over a 4 dr Vibe hatchback (presumably because of its features) and end up with a 2 dr VW Beetle (with an entirely different appeal) boggles my mind.

One more observation - take it from me, a former VW Golf owner, buy the extended warranty!

Congrats on finding both1) car that makes sense for you, and 2) a dealer that WANTED to earn your business!I'd have pegged you & the pooch for the New Beetle Convertible! I'm not sure they offer them in diesel, though. I love my Vibe and my '84 VW Rabbit Convertible!

Why does this boggle the mind? I think I was clear that my goals were to buy a economically-priced car, around $20K, and to get great gas mileage since the reason I am buying the car is daily work-related travel. The Vibe gets 35 MPG, and this diesel bettle gets 42MPG. Both have 4 cylinders. Both had the requisite safety features: side curtain air bags, front wheel drive, anti-lock breaks, standard dual front air bags. In order to get the Vibe, I would have had to travel 600 miles round trip, take a train and pay the related travel costs, deal with another Pontiac dealer who had been less than pleasant during my enthusastic attempts to buy their car, and settle for basic interior features with few bells and whistles. The VW, on the other hand, has leather seats, sunroof (one that does not sacrifice head room, so my tall husband can sit in it, which was not true in the Vibe), satellite radio, heated seats, automatic everything, tiptronic drive system (so I can change gears if I want to, even though it is an automatic), and generally it feels heavier (300lbs, according to the specs), more solid, MUCH more luxurious on the inside, and it fit me better. The 7 MPG better gas mileage doesn't hurt either. And it was like 1000X more fun to drive -- more responsive, tighter on the curves, and has a sports transmission mode for when you want a little extra punch. Those Germans over-engineer everything.So, sorry you don't "get it" and that your mind is "boggled," but, simply put, this is the car for me. It is fortuitous that three Pontiac dealers treated me badly enough that I wound up on a GM lot, which happend to also sell VW. I call this providence, because this is definitely the car for me. To each her own! http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...83956#

I thought my first new-car experience was bad (with my Vibe, no less), but you got me beat. Couple of questions:First, what car is pictured in your initial post about getting your first new car? The way you wrote it, it sounded like that was the exact car you were purchasing....and that the dealer was delivering to you. In this thread, you state that the dealer had no car with your specifications and had to have it delivered. I'm confused.Second, what are the names of your initial dealership (in NJ) and the one in PA? I'd like to give them a piece of my mind....Sorry about the bad experience. I hope the Beetle works out for you...can your husband fit in it okay?

Hi,Kerbeck Automotive in Pleasantville, NJ was the dealer I contracted with the buy the car. They made arrangements with A.W. Golden Pontiac in Reading, PA to swap cars....they would drive a car there and pick mine up as Kerbeck did not have one with my exact specs, but Golden did. Golden sold my car -- they say because Kerbeck never called them after the initial call to hold the car at the beginning of the week. Kerbeck says Golden is lying and that they drove all the way to PA to pick it up and Golden brought out a different car, one with a sunroof.Anyway, only the dealers and God know who was telling the truth. I quickly became exhausted from the finger pointing and cross-accusations. Ultimately, all I know is that I contracted for a specific Vibe, and Kerbeck did not deliver on their end of the contract.I am so happy it turned out this way, though. A confluence of events led me to drive this VW, and I absolutely love it. My husband has 4 inches between the top of his head and the ceiling of the beetle....it's rather round, so the ceiling is remarkably high inside -- this despite the fact that I have a lovely little automatic sunroof.For the poster above who said they had me pegged for the convertible, I am not sure they make the convertible in diesel, and it was the MPGs of the diesel that attracted me to the New Beetle in the first place.Anyway, y'all have been great and supportive through this process, and I will always think the Vibe is a very cool car. Maybe my next one will be a two-tone platinum....I just won't be dealing with Kerbeck again to make the purchase, though!

Kate - God Bless You - you obviously have found the car you always wanted to begin with. My wife had a 1968 VW Bug (cost new less than $2,000) when we first got married and it was a great car until it rusted out completely a mere ten years later (gas tank, floor boards etc.). [We later had a 1986 VW Golf that also has turned to dust in 10 years.] But I think that most people here who see potential buyers looking at the Vibe assume they are interested in the versitility, 4 doors, predicted reliability based on Toyota parts, etc. When we got our 2003 Vibe my wife really liked the VW Bug but in her heart knew that the practicality of the Vibe fit our needs and lifestyle much better. If we had more garage space, perhaps we would have both the Vibe AND a VW Bug.

From all you've said, I believe Kerbeck should be held responsible for their actions. Before I call Kerbeck Automotive (I presume it's the Pontiac/GMC dealership at 300 W Decatur in Pleasantville) and give them a piece of my mind, I need to have a few facts straight. A good lawyer always knows the answers to the questions before they ask, right? So, just to be clear, the car you pictured in your initial post was not the actual car you intended to purchase. You just posted it to show us what it was supposed to look like; am I correct?Now, regarding the VW. You said at the end of your post that the VW was new. If so, then why are there temporary dealer tags from Texas dated "06 03" on the rear and a Texas-based dealership license plate frame in the front for Gene Messer Auto Group?I don't know New Jersey laws regarding registration, but in Texas, temporary plates expire on the month and date printed on the tag (see example below)So, this vehicle's temporary tag expired on June 3rd (of 2006, presumably).I'm not trying to be a nitpick, but I'd like to make sure I know the facts before going any further.

Kate, was your birthday June 29th too? Mine sucked too this year. Congrates on the NB, the new VW stuff it pretty awesome.

That is mighty odd, getting a runaround from jersey pontiac dealerships and then buying a new VW from TX with expired temp tags.

Good catch. http://www.genemesser.com/ Propoganda or not the actual car in the photo.

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »From all you've said, I believe Kerbeck should be held responsible for their actions. Before I call Kerbeck Automotive (I presume it's the Pontiac/GMC dealership at 300 W Decatur in Pleasantville) and give them a piece of my mind, I need to have a few facts straight. A good lawyer always knows the answers to the questions before they ask, right? So, just to be clear, the car you pictured in your initial post was not the actual car you intended to purchase. You just posted it to show us what it was supposed to look like; am I correct?Now, regarding the VW. You said at the end of your post that the VW was new. If so, then why are there temporary dealer tags from Texas dated "06 03" on the rear and a Texas-based dealership license plate frame in the front for Gene Messer Auto Group?I don't know New Jersey laws regarding registration, but in Texas, temporary plates expire on the month and date printed on the tag (see example below)So, this vehicle's temporary tag expired on June 3rd (of 2006, presumably).I'm not trying to be a nitpick, but I'd like to make sure I know the facts before going any further.Are you suggesting that this entire thread might have been a scam?

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Are you suggesting that this entire thread might have been a scam?

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Are you suggesting that this entire thread might have been a scam?No; I just want to make sure I don't make a fool of myself when I call Kerbeck to see what really happened.

Good Catch I'd love to read a rebuttle. I've never been to NJ, but some how I pictured it being greener.

good buy on the VW Beetle!my wife owned one for almost 3 years before we had to sell it when moving to a different country....it was great!as a former VW Golf owner (also), you'll love the VW. I had 230,000 km on my 98 Golf when i traded it in for the vibe and the only problem i ever had happened after hitting a deer at 80mph!i wish i still had that car....and never hit that deer!

Quote, originally posted by Jeremy96gase »I've never been to NJ, but some how I pictured it being greener. Yeah, that's not the NJ I've seen... That place had varying shades of green to oil/chemical/industrial type facilities. The locality in the picture looks very dry, hot, dusty, uh, Texasy! But I've never been to Texas so I can't say for sure.

Let's keep on-topic please.