DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Jason At Sherman Oaks Castle Park

Q: Hi Jason. This is a dynamite car. What motivated you to buy it?

A: I did some quizzes online and what I realized during those quizzes, because I'm not a car person, is that I wanted an eco-friendly car that was technology forward, but that had a little bit of luxury. We live near Keyes Audi, so I kept seeing Audis drive by all the time. Then I went on their website to see what they had that was eco-friendly. This kind of hit all the marks. It is a clean emissions vehicle. It is their entry level luxury line. It's got Bluetooth integration and some of the technology items that I wanted, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

Q: How does the clean emissions technology work?

A: According to Audi, clean diesel is something that's only sold in a few states in U.S. right now--those that have the emission standards with diesel gas that allow for it. Essentially, it's a zero-emissions vehicle, meaning that even though I put in regular diesel gas, it doesn't emit anything into the air. I have no idea where it goes, but it's zero-emission and gets me a lot of miles per gallon.

Q: Do you plan on taking this baby on any road trips soon?

A: My wife Tiffany and I are talking about it. Because we have the sunroof and moon roof, we're talking very much about going up the coast maybe one evening, so that we can get a little moonlight driving up the 1. We keep talking about maybe one day waking up at three in the morning and go drag race down the 405 when there's nobody on it. Tiffany is now very jealous of my new car.

Q: Has your wife nicknamed this car yet?

A: She has not nicknamed the car yet. I had determined that it is a female car, but I have not quite come up with a nickname yet. My last car, the Saturn which we still have, is named Thandie after Thandie Newton, the actress. But this one, I'm not quite sure yet.

Q: Do you have any rules in the car?

A: As I mentioned, I'm not a super car person. Usually what happens is, when I get something new like this car, I will be obsessive about keeping it clean, about how often I take it to the carwash, about what people are allowed to do in the car. The only real rule I have is no smoking because I've never smoked in my life and don't plan to start. I don't like the smell of smoke. And I control the radio station when I'm in the car.

Q: Do you ever rock out behind the wheel?

A: Absolutely. I sing in the car. I dance in the car. At stop lights I look around to make sure no one is paying attention to me as I sing loudly off-key in the car. I'm sure I have been caught.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your Audi A3 TDI?

A: I really do like the moon roof. It's actually in the front and back. This side doesn't pop open, but you can slide open the screen and see up through the backseat. I like the butt warmers. You would not think that you would need that in L.A., but the Valley gets cold in the wintertime. It's nice to have your seat warm.