Shopping for a car

We've been test driving some cars since we got here. We'll definitely be needing a car. If you live in London I guess you can just use the trains, but we'll be quite a bit out of the city and you're often not close to a train station and buses aren't as regular as we were used to in Switzerland. That's one thing I will miss about Switzerland, how you could easily get anywhere with public transport.

The first car we both wanted to try was a Mini. We wanted to try that when we were looking at cars in Switzerland already but realized then that it will be too small for us. So we never actually got in one then. This time we said we've just got to try it.

By the time we got our licenses converted to British ones we've seen so many Minis on the road here that it really wasn't anything special anymore. I have never been to a country where so many people own Minis. But we still wanted to try it just for fun anyway. I sat in the back when we went for the test drive and I was surprised to find that there was enough space for two people at the back. But it just didn't wow me at all. I was quite disappointed. I was expecting something more. I don't know what exactly and I can't really say what was wrong about it but it just didn't do it for me.

Then we were at a Honda garage one day, even though Andre said he's never actually been interested in Honda. The salesman convinced Andre to test drive a diesel one, it's a Honda Civic.

Andre was not convinced that a diesel car will give him the sporty feel he was looking for. But we were both very impressed with this car. The inside looked really nice too which is important to me! So this one was a possibility.

Andre has always wanted a Subaru. I did not like the look of the car at all. But I agreed to give it a chance. If it was anything like his Chev Lumina he had in Cape Town I would like it.

The lovely Lumina

It was not the same.

Firstly the inside looked very very old. Like these designers haven't seen the inside of any other more modern cars since 1970. It was very plain inside and I won't say anything else incase someone reading this might be offended. Sure, the very newest ones are better looking but not anything near our budget.

So I said to Andre if he asks my opinion it's a definite no. I never liked the hole in the bonnet, the fin thing on the back and the inside was just... yes I said I won't say more. Maybe the car is able to go fast and has a lot of power but the salesman didn't take us on any roads to show off the car and try and convince the wife. So no, we were not going to get this one. I said to Andre he can buy it but I'm not going to like it. 

Next up was the Audi A3. I have always liked the look of this one but never actually driven in one. So we found one in our budget and went to look. It was not in very good condition so we didn't even take it on a test drive. At the same garage Andre sat in a Mercedes (decided he's not old enough for that yet) and a Porsche (we agreed it would be fun but we need more space, e.g. for passengers). And okay, this last one was a thousand or two over the budget, but you know, it would have been fun!

Opposite this last garage we saw a BMW garage. So while we're there we might as well have a look. We're walking around looking at prices and it's all way more than we want to spend and Andre is saying how he's had his BMW now anyway and wants something different.

Then we spotted this one:

It's the shape Andre has always liked, the older shape. Of course I would like the newer more expensive shape but luckily in this case Andre liked the cheaper model! And it was even a thousand less than we were willing to spend. It's a 525i Sport.

A very helpful salesman let us take it for a test drive. Andre was very impressed with it. It's got loads of space, a huge boot (trunk) and it has a sports pack which means it's more sporty which makes Andre  even happier. 

We left there to think about it and I agreed that this car has no negative points. There's no reason we should not buy this car. It is older than Andre would normally be interested in - 2002 model - but has only done 40 000 miles and has been so well looked after. It is still in perfect condition, no scratches, no damage inside and the leather seats still look like new, not worn out like leather seats get with time. It only had one owner who obviously took good care of it.

Anyway so we leave to think about it. At least over night. We knew at that price and condition it won't be available for long. A few hours later Andre sent the salesman an email to ask him to just send through all the details of the car. The salesman does but says there is now someone else interested in the car and busy sorting out finance to buy it. The first one to put down a deposit will get it.

So Andre's usual long and careful thinking he does before buying anything had to be rushed quite a bit and he eventually called the guy and said he wants to put down the deposit! He got his money in before the other guy did and yesterday when we went to collect the car we heard that there were actually two people there at the same time wanting to buy the car. 

So I guess it was meant to be for us.

I'm glad we've now got a car. Now we've just got to find a house or flat too.