Cars I've Owned

Car 1: White 3-door Vauxhall Astra, Reg D791 XLY

Dates owned: 2000 to 2001 (I think)

Notes: Bought from a dodgy dealer in Stapleford, Notts. Didn't work when I got it (carburretor was dodgy and the swanky digital dashboard was screwed up). I wish I'd got the blue Astra from the garage by the rail depot. First car though, bought to allow me to easily get to work when I was working with Mastercare/PC ServiceCall.

Fate: Part exchanged for Car 2

 

Car 2: Red 5-door Ford Escort, Reg M326 CFW

Dates owned: 2001 to 2002 (I think)

Notes: Bought because girlfriend at the time said I should get a car that was more family friendly (cos she had kids). It was the best of the second hand cars I've had, and got through its MOT without any work needing done. I liked this car.

Fate: written off when a Volvo driver crashed into it whilst it was parked outside my Chilwell house on a Sunday morning. I love telling the story of the alarm going off and waking me up to the thought "if that alarm starts going wooooooOOOOoooo then it's mine". It did. Then I locked myself out the house.  Used the insurance money to buy a bicycle.

 

Car 3: White 5-door Volkswagen Golf Driver, Reg G186 PBD

Dates owned: Jan 2004 - ?

Notes: Bought by mum (yes, I paid her back) so that I would be able to travel between home and Derby to visit she-who-would-become-my-wife. Automatic gearbox (which was lovely). Nice inside and well-maintained and probably the most hard-wearing of cars. A testament to German engineering.

Fate: A broken axle and several other things wrong with it meant that it was going to cost over £500 to get it fixed and MOTd. Subsequently, advice from others convinced me that it was beyond economical repair and to try and sell it. I tried to sell it for £100 but no-one would offer me anything for it, and I eventually had no choice but to give the car away. I hope that the bloke who took it tried to repair it, but I have a funny feeling he was taking it to a breaker's yard to get some money from it.

 

Car 4: Blue 5-door Kia Cee'd gs, Reg FH08 JFX

Dates owned: July 2008 - 16th August 2011

Notes: Anne's first mobility car and the first time I ever drove/owned a brand new car. The Cee'd is a nice car to drive - remarkably quiet and smooth. It's also a very reliable car and over the three years I drove it nothing ever actually went wrong with it that wasn't down to wear and tear. I didn't like the gearbox, as for the entire time I owned the car I felt that it had a different ratio to any other car - where I was used to changing to 2nd at 20mph the Kia demanded change to 2nd gear at 10mph. Other than that, a lovely car though. Interesting point was that the indicator and windscreen wiper controls were on the opposite sides to normal.

Fate: Exchanged for Car 5 on August 16th 2011

 

Car 5: Extreme Blue 5-door Renault Grand Scenic Expression, Reg FP11 UNL

Dates owned: 16th August 2011 - present

Notes: Diesel automatic 7-seater family bus! I've never been a big fan of MPVs but the size of the family and Anne's needs dictated something with more seats and that sat higher up from ground level. My health issues dictated the automatic gearbox, as sitting in traffic with constant clutch use was really affecting the psioratic arthritis that was beginning to take hold of my left knee.

Fully electronic dashboard is nice, I just hope the connections hold out. It has an electronic handbrake, which you activate by pulling a little switch and deactivate by pressing the accelerator - it's weird, and probably going to take a while to get used to. Push button ignition is nice, and the key is a big chunky card, which is going to be hard to lose. Must get bigger pockets...

Fate: Will be exchanged for another car at the end of 3 year lease, unless we really really like it...

 

Appendix: Other people's cars I've used

Dad's Cars

• Green Hillman Avenger, Reg OBD 53P (Fate: unknown)
• Dark Blue 5-door Chrysler Horizon, Reg FLU 397T (Fate: damaged heavily by a bus hitting it in icy conditions. Eventually sold.)

Mum's Cars

• Silver 3-door Austin Metro City X, Reg A383 VDS: first car I drove after passing my test! (Fate: Sold to a garage, seen a couple of years later in Nottingham)
• Red 3-door Ford Fiesta, Reg Gxxx RRA (Fate: Sold on.)

Other cars:

• Nissan Sunny, my driving instructor's car (Kirkcaldy School of Motoring, Mr Robertson)
• Ford Escort Mk II XR3i, one trip between Scotland and England (belonged to Joe Lally who kindly let me borrow it)
• Various Vauxhall Combo vans (based on Corsa body), whilst working in Coventry (property of Dixons Stores Group during delivery and installation trials)
• Silver Vauxhall Zafira, several trips to Scotland with Anne and kids, 2003 (property of Enterprise Rent-a-car)
• Nissan Micra (2004), one trip to Scotland, 2004 (property of Enterprise Rent-a-car)