Time for a New Car

It is getting to that time where I have to order a new Motability car.

I am lucky that I can use a portion of my Disability benefit and invest with it every three years in a new car. This time, however, always makes me reflective on the cars that I have had; I suppose it helps me to think about what to choose next.

In reality of things I haven’t really been driving for that long; only a small 8 years.

I left learning to drive in pursuit of education, focusing money and time on studying and then after employment. Once I was settled it seemed logical to learn to drive.

The first car that I owned wasn’t on the Motability scheme though; it was purchased at an auction quite cheaply.

It was an automatic Rover Metro.

This was the perfect first car for me; the only thing I really remember about it was that when it hit 70mph it used to shake uncontrollably!

The real thing to notice is that I know absolutely nothing about cars! It has never been a thing that has every interested me. So to recall what all the good points of the Metro were then you are reading the wrong post; all you will get from me is that it was White, cheap and shook at high speeds!

Despite my excellent love for the car I had the worst tyre history to date, which actually began my car dramas! In the small space of 2 years I had to replace 9 tyres.

Being non-technical I will admit that I had no idea where to start when looking for a replacement other than sites like Gumtree. Coming from a family of car enthusiasts made it easy just to get one of them to help me out. What I would have loved, at the time, was to have had access to a car tyre specialist like Point S that would have been able to support me; even if it was just myself clicking on a website and searching for more affordable tyres that the company could fit. In that case I could have at least looked like I had some idea before seeking in family help otherwise I might not have chosen a High-quality tyre manufacturers, such as Michelin and gone for something that was far less quality.

Alas though, I was young, a new driver and I wanted everything quick and easy; not necessarily cheap!

My Second car I got through the Motability scheme. It was a Red Nissan Note.

It was, at the time, a fairly new model to be released. In comparison to the Metro I was now driving in style! It had the perks of air-conditioning for a start and didn’t shake like mad every time we hit the motorway!

It was a clean and smooth drive, something that actually made me sit up and pay attention to my driving.

In the Metro I didn’t care; I was, in hindsight, quite reckless. However, with the Note the power and speed surprised me. I would hit high speeds and not even realise that I was driving that quickly!

Here came my second car drama. I was hit, on a roundabout, by a bus!

I was in the left lane and it in the right, on entering the roundabout it swung out to go round and scraped the front drivers panel all with in the first week of getting it!

Well you can imagine I was far from happy about it! Although the Motability scheme will provide free tyres to its users the payment on getting unnecessary work done on it is quite high! So there I was driving a new car for three years with a lovely dent and scratch down the front.

My third car, and final car, again on the Motability scheme, was a Kia Venga.

This in comparison to the Note was a bit of a let-down. It had all the modern perks and more but the power compared to the Note seemed significantly less; although still far greater than the Metro.

The third car drama happened within the first month of getting it.

On turning 180 degrees in a road exist (I know, very naughty of me) I misjudged the distance of the high rising curb and ended up massively indenting the undercarriage of the passenger side!

So again, I have a brand new car, damaged, that I had to drive around in!

It is good to recap all the cars that I have had, what I liked about them and what I have learnt as a driver. However, I am still undecided as to which car to upgrade to but I would at least like to think that I can keep it without causing any damage this time! One thing for sure though, I still haven’t found the love for cars or an understanding of what to look for. I do like the idea of getting another Blue one! ;)

(This was a collaborative post. My opinions are my own and I am under no obligations to give a positive review. Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of my blog)