We started off our hunt for a car with a checklist to tick: fuel-efficiency ☑, insurance group ☑, road tax bracket ☑, carbon emissions ☑, reliability ☑ and affordability ☑.
For us it spelled: Fiat PANDA. It was John's first car when he was 19 and bought for £250 (everyone can buy a car here). It was also our favourite hired car on our weekend breaks in Southern Spain.
But getting a second hand car is rather a tricky business, the ideal one is rarely available so you usually have to settle with what you can afford that can also tick the right boxes. It was rather frustrating too, having to look around different garages trying to negotiate a price down and then having successfully done so, realise that the car does not really feel right.
If it were just the two of us hunting, we would just have picked one that seemed alright and driven off right then and there. Luckily, we had the benefit of wiser elders (who are really just five years older) who steered us to the right direction, which literally means that in a search for another garage, we drove past the perfect car: it's blue, its beautiful and its a Fiat Panda!
Wow nice Panda :)!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm I just drove what the company hand me. First it was the Toyota Tacoma single cab, then the big Chevrolet Van(yea a big VAN that can be a house if you decide to live life in the road). If I were to get a car I would like one that is fuel efficient but good for long travels with 5 seats and a back compartment for baggage :) typically a family van to be use to visit old folks in the province :)
I think companies should be penalised for buying all these massive cars that are slowly killing the planet. The Panda is a great car, we've taken it on a road trips from Gibraltar to Granada in Spain, up the hills and through tunnels and can drive the maximum speed limit. It's got a big compartment perfect for luggage too. It's not really the size of the car but the engine that matters. I'm disappointed that the Philippines is still littered with SUVs but it would be worth to consider a Kia Picanto (just because its the only small car they sell there). It's a five seater, has a back compartment and fuel efficient too.
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