Ah, so, Respected Master! To be honest, I've thought a fair bit on and off about buying a new or newly-new car and what's put me off is the number of colleagues who've done so and had to toddle back to have wrinkles ironed out. The dear old Proton hammers up and down to Lingfield, taking on all comers, without a wheeze or gasp. It hasn't even had the benefit of its usual 6-month service this year, so it's done very well to do its annual 5,000-ish miles without something falling off. It had to have new disc brakes last year, which blew the budget, but hasn't cost more in replacement parts (rather than repairs, which haven't been needed), servicing and MOTs than she did to buy, so, so far, so good.
The thing is, when you've got a good old auto, it's like riding a horse you know really well (I was going to say, "It's like making love to a handsome man... ") - you know exactly how it handles in all situations and what it can and can't do. I guess because I've often had to make changes in life that I haven't always welcomed, that it's nice to hold on to something I don't absolutely HAVE to change! And when it can't perform any more, I shall retire it to a nice field, with plenty of hay...
