So, today’s journey in Rebecca was ‘somewhat vibey’. The engine clearly isn’t long for this earth. I dunno *why* it’s not long for this earth, not having the ability to see through metal, but it isn’t. It is definately worse now than it was a month ago, so much so that at times holding the steering wheel is uncomfortable, and resting my left foot on the floor near the clutch is uncomfortable too – just from the not-violent-but-persistent vibration of the various parts of my car.
So, a new car is in order, at least for the short term. The distressing thing about this is it steals money from the repair of Rebecca. Even more distressing is that it steals money I don’t actually have. I considered, for a few minutes the potential of selling Cherry, but then remembered I’ve just applied for 2 jobs in London, and Cherry may infact be a much more useful vehicle than the one I’m considering.
I’ve debated this long and hard, and long enough that Rebecca’s got noticably worse, and I’ve come to the following conclusions:
- The vehicle must have a long MOT
- It’s either got to be reasonable mileage-wise or simple enough that I can fix it.
- Ideally, it should be rear wheel drive if it’s something I’m going to have to fix.
- If it’s pay-for-tax, then it needs to be cheap tax band or taxed for most of a year.
- Reasonably reliable (or likely to be)
- Cheap to insure
So, I’ve looked at a Lada, and found that it’s not MOTd, and I’ve stared at lots of ads which have invariably been very high mileage, at that age where expensive repairs start to be common. I had a bid in on a Vauxhall Viva too, but didn’t meet it’s reserve price.
Assuming bloke rings me, then I may go and look at said Viva tomorrow, and accept that I’m paying a bit more than it’s worth for the sake of having a car *now* which I can fix, which is disgustingly simple and which has had quite a few new bits, oh and which is cheap to insure. I’m trying to resign myself to this. It’s not going well.
On the plus side, it should be fine. And having looked at the crap that’s available in my pricerange, most of them come with very-short tax and MOT, or most commonly no tax at all. So I think the ‘classic’ is the way to go.
*sighs*
If the bike was 100% I’d probably torment myself with just riding to and from work, but as long as that base-gasket is leaking and I don’t know why then I’m just not ready to do that. Oh, and risking my life daily on the M25 isn’t wildly good fun.
Anyway, enough whining. On the plus side I’ve put in 2 job applications for 2 A&E departments. So let’s hope we get some interviews and something *good* out of that.
