W K wrote:
>>> Why not go the whole hog and get yourselves a real SUV eh?
>> Great idea - it would do everything the Volvo does but with even worse handling and fuel
>> efficiency! Wonder why I didn't think of that before ;-)
> Or you could have something that handles better, uses less fuel, and is less of a roadgoing tank
> that can barge through other roadusers leaving the occupants safely protected.
Of course we could spend a few thousand quid and get a car which would return nearly 50% more miles
per gallon, but it hardly seems worth it when we did less than 6,000 miles in both cars combined
last year, and we're about to buy a tandem to make doing the school run by bike even easier so the
old bus won't do more than 5,000 this year.
The Volvo was bought five years ago as a workhorse because I was a self-employed geek at the time
and regularly carried a complete carful (and I mean *full*) of computer equipment.
Last year we sold the second car, a Honda Civic. Before doing so we went through various
possibilities: keep the Honda, keep the Volvo, sell both and buy a newer smaller estate car - and
ultimately we decided to sell the Honda and keep the Volvo
We made that choice because the Volvo owes us nothing and is worth next to nothing trade-in but is
reliable, has a towbar fitted, takes the four of us and whatever we want to chuck in it when we go
away, it will carry the four-bike wheel support bike rack (which exceeds the Honda's maximum
permitted nose weight), you can get three bikes in the boot (and still seat four) at a pinch, it can
tow a tonne of ballast in the trailer without complaint, it's long enough to take the bent, I can
put 5m lengths of timber on the roofbars, and it's one of the few cars which is truly comfortable
for me (6'1") and the wife (5'4") to drive. It's done 150,000 miles and the aircon still works, the
electric gizmos still work, the auto box doesn't slip, the engine (2.3 16-v, 155bhp) uses no oil,
the interior is tidy despite having two young children in it most of the time, and the DAB and CD
are already fitted, and my dad and his wheelchair can get in and out of it as well.
All this, and the fact that it takes more oil to build a car than it will ever use in its lifetime
is why we'll be keeping it going for as long as we can, before replacing it with a slightly smaller
and more fuel efficient Volvo.
Of course, having something substantial wrapped around you bring a certain peace of mind when
duelling with homicidal 4x4s on the school run through country lanes, and the fact that the Volvo is
unusually narrow for such a big car also helps there. And yes, we would rather have been offered a
place at the school which is three minutes' walk away, but obviously it would be ridiculous for us
to be in catchment for a school so close, and that school takes absolutely nobody from out of
catchment.
--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.
http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104
