After five and a half years and over 85,000 miles (plus the 22,000 miles the car had on it when I bought it), I’ve decided that it’s finally time to trade it in for a newer model. I’ve been extremely impressed with the car (a Vauxhall Astra), it’s still solid and reliable, although it’s now starting to show signs of age. There’s an intermittent squak from the wheels, and the ride isn’t as good as it used to be. These things could be fixed, but it’s probably better to change the car before I have to spend lots of money keeping it going, rather than after! When I bought the car I said I was going to keep it until it had done 100,000 miles, and it’s done that admirably. Part of me will be sorry to see it go!
So, what to get as a replacement? I know car dealers are getting a bit desperate to shife stock at the moment and there are some stonking deals to be had on a brand new car, but most of them are still out of my price range. I visited a few dealers, picked up a few brochures, and had a test drive in a Toyota IQ. This is a really nifty little car, perfect for town driving, it’s tiny on the outside but more than big enough on the inside for a driver and passenger. It felt like a bigger car when I drove it as well, I didn’t feel that it was going to tip over on the corners or anything like that. But (there has to be a but, doesn’t there?) I don’t think it would be suitable for the relatively high mileage I do, and it was also quite expensive. The car has only just been launched, so there aren’t any second-hand ones available on the market yet.
Another car I was tempted to look at was the new Ford Fiesta. This car has had excellent reviews, and I read in What Car magazine about a chap who’s bought one who does about 200 miles a day, so at least he’s pinning his hopes on it being solid and reliable! Again, it’s a brand new car and there aren’t any used ones available yet, as a result I discounted this car on the basis of price.
I found an internet broker (www.buyacar.co.uk) and had a look at their prices for different makes and models, and happened to look at their prices for Fiat Puntos. Wow, very impressive, might be worth a look, this one! Off I went to the local dealer, picked up a brochure, and booked a test drive for the next day. I’d decided I wanted a diesel car this time round, the sort of driving I do would make a diesel cheaper in the long run, even after the higher initial price and higher cost of fuel. The test drive I had in the car was very short, the dealership was short-staffed that day, but they asked me to come back the following weekend and I’d be able to take the car out on my own for an hour.
I wasn’t initially too impressed with the car, the gear change took a little getting used to, and I stalled it once or twice, but that was probably because I wasn’t used to driving a diesel, or maybe the pedal in the Fiat was a little stiffer then the one I was used to in the Astra. I was willing to give the car another shot, though.
The next weekend I went back and as promised, was given the keys to a car and asked to bring it back in about an hour. I took it on the route I use to go to and from work every day, which is a route that provided a mixture of motorway driving, country roads, and start/stop town driving. I worked out how to use the trip computer, and used to tell me the average fuel consumption for the trip. When I returned the car to the dealer it was reading 59.8 miles per gallon.
By now my mind was pretty much made up. The car was nice to drive, it had all the bells and whistles on it that I wanted (specifically somewhere I could plug my iPod into!) so the only thing left was to work out a deal. I didn’t need to haggle with the guy, he gave me a decent trade-in on my car, and offered me a price I was prepared to pay on a car with the level of trim that I wanted. Actually, it was the car I’d driven on the short test drive the previous weekend. First registered 11 months ago, the car had stood on the dealer’s forecourt and only been used for short test drives in all that time. It’s only got 77 miles on the clock! He’s giving me the full three-year warranty and will make sure the car has been checked over and is in tip-top condition before I pick it up, which should be next Monday if the finances go through without a hitch.
Even though the car was registered last June, I’m still treating it as a brand new car, because even if you buy one that’s only got delivery miles on it, it could have been sitting out in the elements for several months anyway.
Roll on next week!
