TMW - 2012, Our Fleet of cars.

The year started great for me with regards to motoring, I still had my great Jaguar X-Type, it was a car I never thought i would own, however due to illness it became harder and harder to get in and out of and pushing the clutch was also quite and effort, so when my 2008 Silver X-T had to go it was a very sad day.

Andy had heard that there was a large event at a Vauxhall dealer in Bury St Edmund's, as we were heading that way to visit our friends near Lowestoft we decided to pop in and see what they had got, I was not that impressed with Vauxhall at the time, and to be honest that has not changed except for an even worse opinion, I have to say that of all the new cars and dealerships i have visited over the years this one is most definitely the worst with there customer service skills.

It was while at this dealer, that I decided that an automatic Vauxhall Meriva would be my best bet, as it was higher up, auto, and had good vision all round, we asked about a new one, which was going to be about £21,000, he then advised us of a 3 month old, which turned into 6 month old Meriva 1.7 CDTi SE, this was the top of the range, we took it for a test drive and was reasonably impressed with it, so after a lot of haggling and chatting I took the deal on offer, regretting it at leisure later.

The Meriva was not the car for me, so after a while i sold it privately to a lovely couple in Essex, I, in the meantime had an order placed for a Mini Countryman 2.0SD Cooper ALL4, yes a right mouth full, but, an apparently good car, we had tested the Countryman in manual and a Clubman automatic, very comfortable and quick and smooth, mmmmmm, that's not the car I got 3 months later, the car i received had run flat tyres, and they were very harsh, noisy and did not take any bumps or holes with the smoothness that the two test cars had.

I had mentioned this to Mini, but they did not seen to take any interest, unfortunately anyone that takes money from you for any product is exactly the same, take your money and then ignore you, shame I am not a salesman, I would definitely not ignore people that come to me for a car.

The three cars above are my cars, ones i have owned in the last year, the rest are cars i have had access too and have driven, albeit some for less miles than others, the first is My Mother in laws Hyundai i10, this car is the basic of the basics, but for a £7k car, it looks good, is very comfortable, has a few creature comforts, CD player, electric front windows and central locking, the access to the car is very good with wide front doors and reasonably high seating position, it is swift too, and precise, i really like the car, however it is not to my size, i prefer something a little bigger.

Andy started off the year with his pride and joy, the Jaguar XF 2.7 Diesel, we both really loved this car, it was very comfortable, very quiet, very quick and very well specified, the touch screen infotainment system was a little slow but had everything within, everything was electric from windows, seats, steering column, auto opening vents and raising dial for the gear selector, a great start to getting the car started, the throbbing start button with keyless start were get additions to the car.

The XF was and is a great looking car, it is well made and well priced, along with a good specification it beats the hun  oops, i mean German cars hands down, this is one car that we both really miss.

The only reason Andy got rid of the XF was due to a promotion at work, and this job came with a company car, how inconvenient, it meant that we did not need three cars on the drive, so the Jag had to go, a paltry sum was offered to take it of his hands and the deal was done, the car that replaces the Jaguar, well, a Volkswagen Passat diesel estate, it had a couple of options added, like front sensors, folding mirrors and the one that he really wanted, a power tailgate, mmmmm, well, he does like his gadgets, and to be honest it is handy, anyway, this white estate car duly arrived and after a quick drive it seems like a very likable car, and very economical, it has a good sat nav and a few toys to boot, but it is not a jag is it.

It does everything it has been asked of it so far, it is well laden down in the boot with all his work paperwork and other stuff, it is doing quite a lot of mileage and carting me around, in some respects it is better than the Jaguar, I can get in it reasonably OK for one, and it is more frugal, getting a good 50+ mpg, not bad in a large car with is laden with lots of equipment.

 On one of the many trips the VW took, was up near Nottingham, where Andy had to take part in company course, he arrived the night before and had an enjoyable meal and evening, after calling me in the morning to see if i was OK, he hung up and i assumed he had gone off to his training.

About an hour later i got a random text message saying that the front bumper had gone, i immediately thought he had been in an accident and called him, only to find out that someone had, during the night, taken the front bumper from his car, the police, as per usual could do nothing, and the car was then taken away for repairs, in the mean time a silver BMW 2.0d MSport was his replacement vehicle for the duration, I drove this on a few occasions and for a BMW it was not too bad, not as good as the Jaguar, equal to the VW, it was quite low, and i did struggle to get in and out, but the fuel consumption was as good as the VW.

The cars used in the above pictures are used for illustrative purposes only, however colour and model are correct (exp XF silver).