I had a pretty easy night last night (can’t complain at 8 hours sleep now can you) and so I could face car shopping with Fiona.
Fi had pretty much decided that she wanted a VW Golf, having test-driven two earlier in the week (the cars were nice but the colours were wrong!). We were really impressed by the service and the lack of a hard-sell technique at the VW garage in Bristol so we were optimistic that if we stuck to an approved dealer we would have the same experience again.
Fi had tracked down what looked like the perfect car for her at VW Westbury. Westbury is out by Bradford Upon Avon which, although only 23 miles away according to Google, is at least an hour away. We eventually arrived there at about 11:30 in the pouring rain to see the car. It was pretty much perfect. It’s a 1.9TDi 07 plate Golf Match in ‘Blue Graphite’ colour and it’s done about 27,000 miles. I test drove it as Fiona has already driven the TDi and I was really impressed by how comfortable a ride it was. It has ample space for four normal-sized adults and it’s got a massive boot.
It was on sale for £12,000 but we managed to get them to knock £200 off the list price and to repair a few scratches in their body-shop. We’ve also decided to fork out £300 for the Autoglym Lifeshine product. They basically coat both the car’s paintwork and interior in a protective substance that maintains it’s “just been polished” look. It also offers a guarantee against accidental stains on the upholstery. We had a £5000 deposit and decided to pay the rest off using hire purchase. Since Fi and I have been moving all over the world for the last couple of years and because Fiona is from Guernsey we will have to wait until Monday for the finance to get sorted. All being well though we should be able to drive it away on Saturday. Looks like we’ll finally be able to buy a broom from B&Q as there is no way one will fit in my car…