I aborted, but the weather was poor... and we need to buy a car

A familiar site: inside West Croydon Bus Station.

Not having a car and being a 'bus wanker' is beginning to grate a little so today I was up with the lark with the sole intention of taking a look at a Ford Focus in the local Ford dealer's. It sounded promising, but wasn't: 20,000 miles on the clock, one lady owner and it's a fairly old car (2006). But there were problems. It looked a bit worn, there were scuff marks inside and a chunk of trim missing, plus a few exterior blemishes. You might argue that you can't expect much more from a car that amounts to a £3,600 purchase (taking into consideration part exchange on the old Kia) but I wasn't convinced and, fortunately, nor was anybody else.

I've test-driven two Ford Focus cars now and both have had sluggish, almost heavy steering and a sensation of being 'held back', stifled. I can't put my finger on it, but the Astra we drove last week was, by far, one of the best cars I'd seen. It too had low mileage and, I think two owners, but it was immaculate. We'd put in an offer, but they it wasn't accepted, which is annoying when you consider that, like the Focus, it was fairly old (2007). Still, it was not to be, although we did wander down there to repeat our offer...only to have it refused.

A valuable addition to the old wallet...

Back on the buses to get home.

While I know we need a car for various things, I'm quite happy without one. I don't mind walking everywhere and I'm quite used to using the Oyster card on trams and buses, but it's not practical in the long term so a car has to be found, althought not having one means no trips to garages, no multi-storey car parks with their extortionate prices and I swear we're saving money too. Oh that everybody in the family was happy to ride a bike and oh that the roads were safe enough. But sadly, they're not, so a car must be bought and soon.

The Croydon tram – fast and frequent and fun!