You'll be glad to hear that I think I've said everything I have to say about the ordeal of buying my new car. In recent years, this blog has become my therapist as much as anything else. It's cathartic to write this stuff down, even if it's not very interesting to read.
One final observation about buying a car though... something that always astounds me when I come to do it... is just how much of an investment it is, and how much more other people pay. I shelled out about 8K for this particular five year old vehicle, and for that I'll be paying the bank back for the next five years. And yet, all around me on the motorway, every day, I see thousands of people driving much bigger, much newer, much more expensive vehicles. It's not that I envy them. I'm happy with what I've got (and I'd have been happier still to keep the old one without any further expense), and I realise some people prioritise flash and luxury and speed and gadgets far more than I do. But how do they all afford it?
I receive a relatively decent wage as a teacher. I'm aware there are people out there who earn a damned sight more than I do... but there's also a lot who get paid far less. And yet, so many of them are off buying new cars, or huge 4x4s or, or evil, evil Audis... even Porsches, which used to be the extreme example of a prestige badge, now seem to be everywhere. I just don't get where the money comes from.
Then again, most of them probably aren't buying CDs any more. Maybe that's it.
That's Pete Seeger at the top of the page. Here's a song of his about old cars... in simpler times.
