9:48 pm, March 3, 2011
I’VE only gone and done it. It’s a decsion that has NOT gone down well with the wife, but it really had to be done – I’ve put a deposit on the Fiesta XR2.
Those of you that read my blog last week will have known this is something I’ve been contemplating for a while.
A red XR2 was my first ever car and ever since I had to give it away because my lowly cub reporter wages couldn’t cover the cost of leaded fuel I’ve wanted another.
Now desire has overtaken rational thoughts and I’ve done the deed. A deal was struck with a seller on eBay earlier this week and a deposit paid via Paypal. Saturday is my date with destiny. For that is what I’ll call her. Probably.
So how much did it cost? Well, not as much as you might think – well at least not in cash terms. It’s done 80k, was registered in 1987 and (in the pictures) looks pretty clean.
Really good ones are on offer for as much as £5k, not so good ones with owners taking a punt are £3k, and then there are the sensible sellers trying to shift them between £1-2k.
I paid £1,200. Well, at least that’s what I’m handing over to the seller. The trade off with the Mrs for the okay to buy was MUCH higher. First there was the day of silence to contend with. Then the refusal to let me go to the pub on the day I secured it to celebrate. And then the bargaining began…
‘Well, if you’ve got spare cash to blow on a 20 year old FIESTA, I want new radiators!’
Why? Ours work.
‘Yes, but they’re ugly!’
They’re radiators.
‘Do you want the *sodding* (word edited for a family website) FIESTA or not?’
Yes darling. Yes I do.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Oh no. My wife is good at this bargaining malarkey. She’d have a used car supermarket’s salesman panicking.
‘I want an eternity ring too. You promised me one a year ago and if you’re spending money on a bloody FIESTA then you can buy me one.’
If I thought that five grand XR2 looked expensive it could actually turn out that mine ends up costing a lot more.
So, it seems I’ve learnt many things from this episode. One: Don’t ever tell your wife how much you’re paying for a 20-year-old FIESTA. Two: Don’t ever bargain with your wife over a used car, especially when you really want it. And three: Radiators can be described as ‘ugly’.
Anyway, I don’t care. I’m getting my XR2 on Saturday and am about as excited as I was back when I was 17 and was about to pick the original up for the first time from my brother’s garage.
This week has been mostly spent getting £250 chunks out of the cash machine (why do they make it so tough to get your own money out?). I swear the people in One Stop must think I’ve got a narcotics problem what with the wads I’ve been walking out with. Oh well.
But want to know the best bit? Where do you think I’m picking the XR2 up from? Essex, of course. Where else?
