The phrase ‘three little words’ used to mean ‘I love
you’. These days they mean income draw down.
Flushed with excitement now that he is getting his
hands on some money, my OH has decided to replace his much loved Jaguar - or as
he put it: “What we need is a new family car.”
His original plan had been to keep his special edition
Jaguar XJR until it became a modern classic and shot up in value.
Now he is suggesting we sell both the Jag and my Ford Focus (the car used for essentials of family life such as collecting Christmas trees, making journeys to the tip and ferrying grandchildren around), then buy one car that we can share.
Now he is suggesting we sell both the Jag and my Ford Focus (the car used for essentials of family life such as collecting Christmas trees, making journeys to the tip and ferrying grandchildren around), then buy one car that we can share.
I am not entirely convinced that this is a good idea.
Apart from one brief period in the past when mortgage rates were running at 12
per cent we have never had a ‘family car’. We had his and her cars.
His was the big shiny one that impressed clients and
was taken to the car wash every week. Mine was the scruffy little one full of
empty crisp packets, used baby wipes and CDs of Paddington Bear and Stig of the
Dump. (Thanks to grandchildren, it still is.)
Besides, his idea of a suitable family car and mine
are completely different. We have already had a test drive in what he laughably
refers to as the little Jaguar. And we have looked at a BMW 3 series 340 which
is - apparently - superior to the BMW 3 series 320 (although not to the naked
eye).
The test drives, it seemed to me, were all about 0-60
speeds, and the handling round corners and technical issues like that. The
salesmen laughed when I observed that the real test would be whether I could
manoeuvre the car into one of the miniscule spaces in Sainsbury’s car park. The
OH was not at all amused.
He is now insisting that some of the cars he has his
eye on are actually narrower than my Focus and only a few centimetres longer. I suspect we will never agree.
- His earliest memories of family cars include his father's Ford Thunderbird. My Dad’s pride and joy was a Ford Anglia!
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