Friday, May 04, 2007

Car

My car is getting pretty long in the tooth, which is OK for a runaround vehicle for the kids but I worry about it on the longer journeys I have to make for work (there have been more of those in the last few months and no sign of that changing). So I'm having a little trouble matching my expectations with my principles and my price range. I always drove small hatchback cars until my last one, which was a Honda family saloon: I love it because it's an automatic transmission and it is very comfortable for long journeys. Part of me thinks I should go for something smaller because it is going to be a little greener and will be less expensive to tax. On the other hand I want a car that matches up to my home and work needs - at home it needs to be comfortable and zippy, but at work it needs to make me look good (professional, stylish etc.). The practical side of my nature says I only need something that gets me from A to B safely and comfortably. I also look at the prices and my heart sinks. Why are cars so expensive? The other ambition I have is to buy a newer car than the ones I normally seem to buy. I know newness isn't everything and I don't think I'll ever be able to afford a brand new car, regardless of my income - it sounds daft to say that but that's a feeling I have. I know someone who has a car that cost 32,000 pounds and to me that's just INCREDIBLE: (a) I don't know how they found a car so expensive (b) why even contemplate spending SO MUCH on just a car is beyond me. I'm going to be thinking about cars a lot in the coming days, I just thought I'd pass on my worries since I've found little time to blog on other things the last couple of weeks.

5 comments:

Dutchie said...

Hello!
Long time no speak/comment from me, just been frantically busy with tours...
New cars are indeed ridiculously priced, I mean, that's more than people earn in a year, why spend it on a bit of iron and some wheels?!

Just make sure you have a good think about it and look around before buying :)

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

Thats a tough one.. cars are over-priced.. but look at your choices nowadays.. what about lease to own an older car but still relatively new..

laura b. said...

I have never owned a brand new car and probably never will either. I think the way things are going greener and more efficient to run have it all over any sort of cool factor.

FW said...

I'm tending to think "go for something smaller" at the moment.

Rachel said...

I have a new car. It is a cute, zippy thing but I don't like the fact that it is a manual.
You call family cars "saloons"? Here we call them sedans.
A 32,000 pound car would be about a $48,000 car here. That is definitely out of my price range but it is a pretty common occurence to see them.
Any of the larger or higher end SUV's are easily that price along with the Mercedes and Lexus brands.