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Monday, April 21, 2014

Still searching

Monday has seen the car search continue.

We started with the Peugeot and Citroen garages. Whilst they had some nice cars, the Peugeot 208 was the only model that may have fitted the bill - but the requirement for the automatic gearbox and increase in the VED category that comes with that, ruled it out.

Then we headed to the Ford garage. All of the reviews of the cars GF has been considering seem to conclude that the Fiesta and the Polo are the best cars in the class. It seemed logical, therefore, to go and look at one of these. More importantly to sit in one as the Silver Vixen has traditionally found the seats to be be uncomfortable in Ford cars. We looked around the showroom and found a Fiesta of the specification we would require. The Silver Vixen sat in it and we examined it in detail. The conclusion was that it was a contender, and as such we have arranged a test drive next weekend.

Then the Silver Vixen had an idea. What about the Mini. So we headed to Rustington in the hope that the Mini showroom was open. It was. So we poured all over the new Mini Hatch in the Cooper specification. It was quirky and comfortable and we decided a test drive was required. The salesman, ever eager, took us out straight away and the Gorse Fox had a chance to drive the car. It was really very nice. The engine was tight and responsive, the ride was comfortable, and the seats were ideal. On top of this, it was a fun car to drive. It did look a little cramped in the back seat, but how often do we use the back seat in our existing cars? This has become another definite, if expensive, contender.

2 comments:

scobi said...

Hi GF, just a bit of anecdotal info on the mini. My hairdresser (I know, how posh, he has his own hairdresser) had a mini, and being a rabid mod, and citing The Italian Job in his top 5 films, not surprising, and while he did have an old mini originally, it was fun as a motorised rollerskate, but for family use a new model was his choice. He loved it until it failed, and then the bill to fix was, in his view, very high, so he sold it and got a Citroen, which has, as far as I can remember, not ever been a mod icon!

The Gorse Fox said...

Well the Gorse Fox suspects that whatever he chooses will not do a lot of miles and will hopefully prove to last a long time.
A nice feature with the Mini at present is a single £300 payment to cover all servicing for the first 5 years - unlimited by mileage (not that the mileage is likely to be an issue)