What a Week!

Well, I finally got a call from Potential Future Boss #1 last Friday, telling me that I would be offered the position we had discussed. So, time to stop faffing around and actually buy a car.

I've been looking at used car adverts for three months, so now was the time to leap into action and buy myself a shiny Peugeot 406 Coupé.

The first car on my list, mentioned here, had been sold, as I predicted. The next one, I noticed just as I called the dealer, had red leather upholstery (why??!).

The next three all had sunroofs. None of these were mentioned in the text of the advert, nor were they visible on the photographs. In one case,the advert ran to eight lines of description of the car, including the surprise news that the car had power steering, but failed to mention the sunroof. As I established a while ago, sunroofs are a no-no.

By yesterday, I had narrowed the choice down to two vehicles:
A 2001 (Y) 2.0 S, cloth interior, 73,000 miles. Advertised at £3800 but £3500 agreed.
-or-
A 2000 (W) 2.0 SE, electric heated leather seats, cruise control, etc. 97,500 miles. Advertised at £3500.

My scoring system penalises the 'SE' for the extra 24,500 miles (~£600) and the extra year (£700), but gives it £600 for the extra kit. So, in order to be of equal value to the 'S' model, it would need to be reduced to around £2900.

I called the dealer, Rude Car,this morning and offered £3000 cash, which they politely declined. The car had come in only yesterday, so they weren't willing to drop the price at all. No sale for them today.

I've arranged to collect the 'S' from Southampton next week, once it's been MoT'd. The dealer serviced it and replaced the cam belt when he received the car, so no worries there.

I've also got a nice quote for the insurance by changing the car on my existing policy and taking out a new policy in my wife's name for the Astra. Net cost, about £490, which is £200 or so less than I'd thought.

The LPG conversion is also provisionally booked at Essex LPG for two weeks' time.

Full speed ahead...