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enismirdalCRI and I went to Wales a few months ago. I managed to talk him into going via Dad's - train up to northwest England, and then rent car and drive across to remote bit of Wales where Sci-fi convention was being held. I also managed to talk him into letting me go on the car as another named driving so we could share the driving on the way back (good plan! He'd gone to the closing party and although hadn't drunk much there, was tired and grotty the next day, whereas I'd got an early night and was fresh as a daisy).
In any case, we got a lovely little Toyota Yaris, and I took the first 90 minutes' driving of a ~3 hour drive home.
It was*:
*aside from being allowed to have a very brief try in my dad's vintage car about a 18 months ago, but that really didn't constitute "driving" it in any useful sense
I stalled repeatedly at various points (including, once, at some traffic lights for so long they'd gone red again by the time I was ready to pull away...oops). Petrol is different to diesel!! But I enjoyed the car, decided that Toyotas were rather fun, and liked the freedom of being able to go whereever I felt like.
So this summer, I grew increasingly frustrated with the appallingness of our local public transport. The commute to work by bus is approximately 45 minutes if all goes well. In a car, it would take 14 - 20 if the traffic is bad. The buses are frequently late, and also sometimes so early that you approach the bus stop in good time and watch them speed past the stop. They're often filthy, and usually contain at least one adolescent wearing excessively strong vanilla perfume and/or listening to appalling modern music on an MP3 player wearing headphones that seem intent on broadcasting the noise to the entire bus. Buses also become pretty much mythical on Sundays and in the evenings, and don't go to various exciting places like farm shops and plant nurseries. Being constantly constrained by where buses/trains go and when they run began to bother me.
So I decided I wanted a car. After doing some research, I decided a 5-6 year old Toyota Aygo would be a good bet. Cheap to tax, cheap to insure, cheap to run. Bingo. Insurance quotes suggested they'd be half the price I'd braced myself for (perhaps cos I added CRI as an additional driver), and so my car-buying process began.
I booked my first test drive on an ideal-looking car about 5 minutes' walk from my house. Well, I thought I'd booked it. Turns out that dealer don't actually check the e-mail associated with the web-form for booking test drives, and despite having a range of times from 7am to 9pm listed on the form, they actually only do 9 till 5. So I had to phone up and find out why they hadn't confirmed, and then delay the test drive because of my availability and their opening times, etc. But in the end, there was a test drive. I stalled lots - essentially, every time I put the handbrake on - and I found the quietness of the engine very disorientating. I like the car to make a noise that sounds like it's actually there, or I worry it's turned itself off, so to speak. I did not drive terribly well, and we kept to quiet suburban residential streets so never got past 30mph, and also never did any right turns, overtaking, etc. so I have no idea what visibility would be like if in the right lane to take the 3rd exit at a roundabout, for example. The handbrake was also further back and lower than I expected, but the gearstick seemed OK and the bite was quite close to the floor so the clutch was in good condition. So my conclusion was: "Like, but further data needed."
The salesman seemed entirely indifferent to whether I bought it or not, which surprised me. When I said I'd think about it and call him back, I sort of expected him to chase or offer me a one-time only deal or...something. But he just shrugged and let me go. Wow.
I decided to obtain further data by (eventually) seeking a test drive on the same make/model of car but at a different dealer. (Fortunately Aygos are common as muck so not hard to find a similar car of similar age.) That was meant to be today. This time, I spent a good 10 minutes looking over every inch of the car for damage/dirt/suspicions, and inspected the service history more critically (rather than just checking it existed and the mileage matched the book). Discovered the car was superficially cleanish but filthy in the corners, there was no record of its 3-year/30K service, but it did have aircon and 5 doors, which the other one didn't. But apparently this dealer has a policy that it doesn't let people test drive until they've agreed a price. I thought the asking price was ludicrous, and what I thought it was worth was not a price they would be willing to do it for ("It has alloy wheels and these upgraded speakers!"). So we parted ways amicably but I don't think there will be a second date. maybe I'm a stupid entitled customer, but actually perhaps if they'd given me chance to find out if I liked the car, I might have agreed to a higher price.
The plan now is to look at 1-2 other cars in this town or the next one (similarish price, age, etc. - slightly higher spec but with price to match), see how I feel about spending more to get higher specifications, drive more examples of the car under more conditions (50mph and some right turns, please!) and then think about buying.
I think maybe I expect too much of the salesmen. In the end, I guess their margins are lower than you expect so it's not as if each customer on a small car like that is potentially worth thousands. But probably with the right sort of buttering up I could be talked into buying more quickly and less cautiously, and I expected them to try harder to win me over. Well, their loss. I am not in a hurry and if I still haven't bought a car in 3 months, it will save me 3 months of petrol and staff parking permit!
But sooner or later, I WILL get myself a wee car for shopping and commuting and going to the garden centre. It will also, hopefully, make me a better driver if I can get more practice!
In any case, we got a lovely little Toyota Yaris, and I took the first 90 minutes' driving of a ~3 hour drive home.
It was*:
- my first time driving since my motorway lesson the week after passing my test
- my first time driving anything other than Ford Fiesta
- my first time driving in Doc Martens since very early on in my lessons (I switched to ladylike boots after realising DMs have soles so thick I couldn't feel the pedals through them so had no idea if my feet were even on the pedals never mind pressing down or not!)
- my first time driving outside my current town of residence
- my first time driving a petrol car
- my first time driving a car with CRI in it
*aside from being allowed to have a very brief try in my dad's vintage car about a 18 months ago, but that really didn't constitute "driving" it in any useful sense
I stalled repeatedly at various points (including, once, at some traffic lights for so long they'd gone red again by the time I was ready to pull away...oops). Petrol is different to diesel!! But I enjoyed the car, decided that Toyotas were rather fun, and liked the freedom of being able to go whereever I felt like.
So this summer, I grew increasingly frustrated with the appallingness of our local public transport. The commute to work by bus is approximately 45 minutes if all goes well. In a car, it would take 14 - 20 if the traffic is bad. The buses are frequently late, and also sometimes so early that you approach the bus stop in good time and watch them speed past the stop. They're often filthy, and usually contain at least one adolescent wearing excessively strong vanilla perfume and/or listening to appalling modern music on an MP3 player wearing headphones that seem intent on broadcasting the noise to the entire bus. Buses also become pretty much mythical on Sundays and in the evenings, and don't go to various exciting places like farm shops and plant nurseries. Being constantly constrained by where buses/trains go and when they run began to bother me.
So I decided I wanted a car. After doing some research, I decided a 5-6 year old Toyota Aygo would be a good bet. Cheap to tax, cheap to insure, cheap to run. Bingo. Insurance quotes suggested they'd be half the price I'd braced myself for (perhaps cos I added CRI as an additional driver), and so my car-buying process began.
I booked my first test drive on an ideal-looking car about 5 minutes' walk from my house. Well, I thought I'd booked it. Turns out that dealer don't actually check the e-mail associated with the web-form for booking test drives, and despite having a range of times from 7am to 9pm listed on the form, they actually only do 9 till 5. So I had to phone up and find out why they hadn't confirmed, and then delay the test drive because of my availability and their opening times, etc. But in the end, there was a test drive. I stalled lots - essentially, every time I put the handbrake on - and I found the quietness of the engine very disorientating. I like the car to make a noise that sounds like it's actually there, or I worry it's turned itself off, so to speak. I did not drive terribly well, and we kept to quiet suburban residential streets so never got past 30mph, and also never did any right turns, overtaking, etc. so I have no idea what visibility would be like if in the right lane to take the 3rd exit at a roundabout, for example. The handbrake was also further back and lower than I expected, but the gearstick seemed OK and the bite was quite close to the floor so the clutch was in good condition. So my conclusion was: "Like, but further data needed."
The salesman seemed entirely indifferent to whether I bought it or not, which surprised me. When I said I'd think about it and call him back, I sort of expected him to chase or offer me a one-time only deal or...something. But he just shrugged and let me go. Wow.
I decided to obtain further data by (eventually) seeking a test drive on the same make/model of car but at a different dealer. (Fortunately Aygos are common as muck so not hard to find a similar car of similar age.) That was meant to be today. This time, I spent a good 10 minutes looking over every inch of the car for damage/dirt/suspicions, and inspected the service history more critically (rather than just checking it existed and the mileage matched the book). Discovered the car was superficially cleanish but filthy in the corners, there was no record of its 3-year/30K service, but it did have aircon and 5 doors, which the other one didn't. But apparently this dealer has a policy that it doesn't let people test drive until they've agreed a price. I thought the asking price was ludicrous, and what I thought it was worth was not a price they would be willing to do it for ("It has alloy wheels and these upgraded speakers!"). So we parted ways amicably but I don't think there will be a second date. maybe I'm a stupid entitled customer, but actually perhaps if they'd given me chance to find out if I liked the car, I might have agreed to a higher price.
The plan now is to look at 1-2 other cars in this town or the next one (similarish price, age, etc. - slightly higher spec but with price to match), see how I feel about spending more to get higher specifications, drive more examples of the car under more conditions (50mph and some right turns, please!) and then think about buying.
I think maybe I expect too much of the salesmen. In the end, I guess their margins are lower than you expect so it's not as if each customer on a small car like that is potentially worth thousands. But probably with the right sort of buttering up I could be talked into buying more quickly and less cautiously, and I expected them to try harder to win me over. Well, their loss. I am not in a hurry and if I still haven't bought a car in 3 months, it will save me 3 months of petrol and staff parking permit!
But sooner or later, I WILL get myself a wee car for shopping and commuting and going to the garden centre. It will also, hopefully, make me a better driver if I can get more practice!
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Date: 13 Jul 2014 16:35 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 18 Jul 2014 22:46 (UTC)(Sorry, I'm at the point of stopping commenting on this site because it CONSTANTLY eats my comments.)
Basically, I'm a REALLY incompetent and dangerous cyclist. Even if I could handle a bike safely - and at the moment I wouldn't cycle half a mile on quiet roads, never mind 5 miles in our area - the first mile of our cycle route is so crazy CRI won't do it. He actually walks to his mum's and picks his bike up there, then cycles the last 4 miles along routes that are (mostly) cycle lanes. The first mile is a major A-road arterial but only 1 (narrow) lane in each direction, and full of lorries and idiot drivers who would probably try to overtake anyone foolhardly enough to cycle along there in a positively frightening way. It also takes at least as long to cycle to/from work as it takes to get the bus :-/ So it's not really feasible for me and would make shopping more inconvenient.
Mostly, I am just reaching the end of my tether with feeling so dependent all the time. Anywhere that's not walking distance from a trainline or bus route is basically inaccessible, especially if I want to travel to/from it with anything large, heavy or bulky. Garden centres, country parks in the middle of rural Kent, farm shops and plant nurseries.
So yes, I agree it would be better to not run a car, but I can comfortably afford it, and I'm getting the least polluting decent car I can afford and which is actually appropriate to the area (I looked at electric but the affordable ones all have a top speed of 40mph, which isn't really appropriate when a lot of our main roads have 50mph limits). I'll try and be responsible, and CRI and I can go into work together so hopefully there won't be too much single-person-occupancy of the vehicle!
Actually, what I'd really like is Zipcar, but that is basically crap outside London.