Thursday, May 25, 2006

Feeding the machine with material!

There I was, walking into Carcraft, a large car superstore - whom I was attracted to because of the opportunity of buying and driving off in a car in an hour... my mantra was "practical", "cut monthly costs", "something for the family"... Last time I did this I ended up with the Hyundai - and today, I drove out with a V6 3.0 SE Jaguar S-Type.

Admittedly it cost less than my Hyundai did (so ok on the cut monthly costs bit, despite the extended warranty and inevitable insurance increase) and it is practical - 4/5 people in total comfort, but it's hardly the Mondeo or Ford Focus I imagined myself coming away with.

And actually, this "buy a car in an hour" business... what poppycock. 5 hours more like. First the battery was flat, then there was a problem with the electronic wing-mirrors, then the ash-tray wouldn't close - all of this will get sorted when I get back since after 5hrs I just wanted to get in and drive off.

THEN the bloody cover note they gave me for the insurance wasn't acceptable at the post office, the DVLA wouldn't accept the details online and eventually I winged it at another post office and got the thing taxed... with an hour of the day to spare.

The car itself is very nice, it's a few years old but it's a lot of car for what it cost and is extremely well specced up. I know I'm letting myself in for abuse in the office (mind you, anything I do does that) and I'm getting myself ready for the "It's a Rover 75" digs just as they did for Oldham when he got his Jag. Mind you, it means they'll all be able to get in the car when we go out for lunch or to the pub - something that wasn't particularly practical about the Hyundai although I did enjoy it when John Dennis's head was rammed against the roof when he was in the back. I'll remind them of those cramped times when they're giggling about Rover75's whilst enjoying the comfy seats and aircon.

So once more, my ability to try and lead a semblance of a normal life ends in tragedy of one kind or another. Mind you, I swear that it was the thought of driving down to Cornwall in the wife's Citroen Picasso that led me to get something nice. I'm sure it'll guzzle petrol and I'll regret it at some point, but right now, it's good.

And it's holiday time tomorrow. I'm not sure if/when I'll be updating my blog when I'm away since rural Cornwall isn't really a hub of technology - I doubt if they have a regular post service.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

No - it's not a Rover 75......... you actually 'did' drive away in a Mondeo. The Jag uses the same technology, running gear and if you look hard enough, the same switch gear!

Still a car that I would consider buying though!

An ex-mechanic!??