Buying my New Car

Last week I shared that my first and only car, my grandma's car, had officially been written off.  I am still hurt by it, but much more accepting that I was before Christmas when I was well and truly devastated. I've been having to get the bus to and from work, between begging colleagues for lifts on bank holidays and having a very kind cousin who has also given me a couple of lifts too. 

I was originally looking at getting a lease car. After spending quite a bit of money on obviously buying a house, but also the renovations over the last couple of years. When I looked at lease cars, it was a brand new car. The initial fee was roughly the cost of what I got as a car payout and the monthly fee - including insurance, breakdown cover, services etc - was roughly one extra bank shift at work so it would pretty much be unnoticeable and I thought it was a great idea. 

I found a lease company I was interested in and reached out. I specifically said I was doing 4 night shifts so I would respond via email and call on the Monday to discuss. Well, I was immediately put off by the constant badgering. I received multiple emails, phone calls and texts each and every day, whilst I was trying to sleep and work. It was horrendous and honestly felt like harassment! 

I had narrowed it down to two cars that I liked and were in stock. The first was a Citroen C5 Aircross and the second a Ford Focus. I did ask some family and friends of their opinions of the cars, and almost everyone unanimously said not to get a Ford with an EcoBoost engine, which I had actually heard of before through my own mechanics.

Of course, I also wanted to test drive the car before going ahead with arranging the contract and delivery, so I went to a garage to test drive the Citreon. I actually ended up feeling like the C5 Aircross was far too big and unnecessary, so I did look at the C3 and C3 Aircross instead. I ended up falling for the C3 Aircross as a car between small and high height. I loved how you could just slide in without having to bend down or step up to get in. 

It was slightly more than I wanted to spend and it is pretty much all of my remaining money, but nevertheless, it will hopefully be a car that will last me. I had originally set expectations on getting another car before my "family" car but this will be fully suitable as a family car so can also work long-term. I didn't get too much off the asking price, but alongside, repainting some scratches, buffing out some damage on the trip and fixing the backing on one of the seats too, I did arrange for the MOT and service. These were due in February, but I wanted them done before purchasing, and also got a 2 year warranty, where all needed repairs are included in the cost, so I have at least 2 years of minimal cost *hopefully*. 

Perhaps, I'll do a little car tour or a car review in a few months time when I've used it for a bit longer!