We Did The Deal

~ beetleypete

In just over an hour on Monday, we had a test drive of a used car, and were offered a better than expected deal to trade-in my old car too. As car buying goes it was relatively painless, and we pick up the newer car on the 1st of March.

This is the actual car.

The list of extras on this car sounds impressive, but my cynical old self could not stop myself saying to the salesman, “More to go wrong”.

It has a 6-speed manual gearbox. (Stick shift to my American friends)
A reversing camera that shows you what is behind you and adds a warning beeper. (I use the mirrors)
A built-in satellite navigation system. (I use map books most of the time)
‘Intuitive’ or alternatively selectable 4-wheel drive. (A first for me)
Alloy wheels. (Easily scratched or gouged)
Various other electronics including some that you can use to talk hands-free on a phone. (Which I will not be doing, but Julie will)
Digital radio, and sockets for chargers or streaming from an ‘outside source’. (Something I will not be doing)
Some other stuff that I zoned out of… (I will read the manual once we have the car)

It does have a spare wheel, a rarity these days. So no more having to be recovered to a tyre company if you get a puncture.

Until the 1st of March, I shall avoid using my old car at all. Fate does not need any extra temptation.

82 thoughts on “We Did The Deal”

    1. Almost everyone here can use a manual gearbox, Frank. Automatic cars cost around £1500 more to buy, and if you pass your test on one you are only allowed to drive an automatic. As a result, over 99% of Britons learn to drive on a manual. 🙂
      It will be a pain for me to lose the auto gearbox, but I have always switched between both over the years, and driven my wifes manual Hyundai frequently.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  2. Pete, the car looks great and hope the extras don’t cause too many problems. When I bought my car a few years ago the electronic gadgets, phone, music etc had me totally sold – and it does drive well too! Well apart from being hit by a blue van last week when standing still at a junction – currently waiting for it to be repaired! grrr

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    1. It is big enough for Ollie to travel in the back, and has the bonus of optional 4-wheel drive for winter. They were enough for me, but Julie will drive it most of the time, and she likes those extras. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  5. It looks to me like you are moving on up to better things Pete and I am happy for you. I stopped driving ages ago but I do not miss it because here, in America, there are so many crazies on the highways that driving is like playing a lottery for life…

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    1. Unfortunately, driving where we live is essential, as there are no shops unless we drive almost 4 miles into town. But we both try to avoid the highways whenever possible. As long as we still have Ollie, we will need a car big enough for him to travel in.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. Dear Pete,
    when I bought my new car it took me several weeks to be able to use all the features. I had the feeling I have to learn driving again. Now I love it. Dina was much quicker using all these possibilities.
    Wishing you a lot of fun with your new car.
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  10. It’s cute! And with all those extras … who needs a house or an office? You could live in the car and never miss a beat! Congratulations on a relatively painless dealmaking! I hope it lasts you a good long time!

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    1. No, it was our choice to wait. It works out better with the annual car tax to start from the 1st of any month. If I had collected the car the next day, I would have had to tax if from the start of the month, which would have wasted some money.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. It looks good, Pete. I had some of those features in my last car (I don’t have a car now, and living in a big city, I don’t need it), and some are very handy, although no spare wheel, and I wasn’t too happy with that. I didn’t have the camera though, and I only tried the backup camera when I got a courtesy car, and I guess it’s a matter of getting used to it (I didn’t know what I was seeing so I got quite confused, but I am sure it’s useful). Enjoy it!

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    1. Thanks, Olga. Once we have the car in March, we will see how well we like it. Julie will be driving it 90% of the time, as she still works 3-4 days a week. I will have her 2015 Hyundai to run around in, unless I need the bigger car to take Ollie somewhere.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. if nothing else places you north of 60 it was ‘I will read the manual’… Enjoy your gizmos. The only one that my current money pit has that my first didn’t and which I really like are heated seats…

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    1. As I said to Susanne, (below) heated seats are not included. I have never had them, and consider them to be a real luxury.
      I am as north of 60 as Aberdeen is north of London, and heading for John O’Groats. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. Car-abunga! That’s a lot of features! My ancient manual transmission 4WD truckster is about as basic as you can get. I have 212,000 miles (341,000 km) on the odometer. A lot of the paint has peeled off due to the Southern Nevada sun, and it has a lot of scratches and dents due mostly to desert off-roading, but it’s still running (knock on cactus!).
    I hope your new (used) car proves to be reliable and a joy to drive!

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    1. My wife will enjoy using those, John. She will drive it most of the time, and I will become acquainted with them later. As I don’t go out much, I will use her 2015 Hyundai for routine trips. The newer car will be great for our annual holiday and longer runs, and the 4-wheel drive will be very useful in winter.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. I picture you the Eeyore of car buyers, Pete. My husband rarely uses added features, even on his phone. I tend to use them all. This is a very smart looking vehicle. I hope it serves you well. Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Thanks, Maggie. I only use my phone to make calls, or send text messages. As for cars, I just drive them as if they haven’t changed since 1970. I don’t even use the airconditioning, I open a window. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. You wouldn’t want to drive it down here Pete, it looks like quite a beast! What make and model have you gone for? Petrol engine? I was looking at a Fiat 500 electric model the other day (nearly new so only 700 miles on the clock) but it was still an eye-watering £24,500 cash!

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    1. It’s a Renault-made Dacia Duster 4X4. 1.6 petrol engine, a top of the range model, with all the extras. (Around 45 mpg overall, much less in traffic of course.) I don’t want anything to do with electric cars at the moment, due to the high sale prices and lack of charging facilities when you are on a long journey. It is higher off the ground, so we wil need a dog-ramp for Ollie to get into it, but overall, it is actually smaller than my current Zafira.
      It is a 2018 registered ex-demonstrator from Renault, with current mileage of 47,000. As we only do around 6-7,000 miles a year in our main car, it should last us for a good while. My only regret is that I will have to get used to driving a manual gearbox again.
      (It cost a whopping £11,000, but that is less than half the current retail price of £23,000 new. They gave me £750 part-exchange for my old car, even knowing the gearbox is not working properly. I am sure they will scrap it.)
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  22. We finally replaced our 14 year old minivan to get the safety features now standard. Fortunately the dealer had a 20 odd year young man come and show us all the electronics. I just wanted to know how to turn it on and turn it off! A button now. My grandchildren are showing me how to use things as needed. Yesterday I learned how to turn on the heat!

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    1. Julie made the young saleman promise to show her how to access all the features when we collect the car. Fortunately, he lives with his parents just around the corner from our house. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  34. Meanwhile up the road at Sandringham the Duke has a Range Rover Charles is trying to pass on to a loyal & faithful servant. It took the Corgies, so can take Ollie. One careful owner umm err

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