We had been talking about it for some time, but there was a lot to take into account, not least of all the financial aspect, but eventually we both agreed that we needed to move on, it was no good sitting in the same place for ever.
We looked around the neighbourhood to see what was available. My eyes caught the little red 2 seater convertible, with the chrome roll bars and electronic roof, while my wife favoured the large Chelsea tractor with air con and auto box, however common sense prevailed, and we agreed on the medium 5 door hatchback.
One careful owner from new, it had been lovingly tended, the black paint shone from numerous coats of wax, the interior was spotless, and the bodywork was immaculate. It had alloy wheels and enough chrome to say that this was no base model; this was someone who went a little bit further for a touch of comfort. Being only 2 years old, it had another year before the MOT was needed, and was taxed for 10 months. The previous owner had got fed up with driving and decided he needed to exercise more, hence the sale.
We were a little worried about what to do with our old car, fortunately for us, one of our neighbours had a daughter who was just seventeen, and decided it was the ideal car for her to learn to drive in
After a bit of haggling. We agreed on a fair price for both our new vehicle, and the sale of our old car. Then it was out with the laptop and on to the internet. Ten minutes later we had negotiated a loan from our bank, and had arranged for the transfer of the cash. Another ten minutes and we had the insurance set up; all we needed now was the keys.
It’s surprising the amount of detritus that you collect in your car. We cleared out everything that we wanted to keep from the old car, and transferred it to the new car. Now I can’t remember for the life of me, ever touching the spark plugs in the old car, but there, at the bottom of the spare wheel well, was a plug spanner and a set of feeler gauges, funny how these things turn up.
Finally we were all set. We climbed into our new car, smelled the fresh smell of leather from the seats, heard the gentle tones of the 6 speaker stereo, and as I turned the key for the first time, and we listened to the reassuring purr coming from the engine, we looked at each other and smiled, finally, after what had seemed like an age, by buying the car next to us, we had managed to change lanes on the M 25!........
