h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've got another car! A real bargain, a P reg for £250! I've never had such a 'new' car before, only 8 years old. I have to admit it looks much older, and apart from a few things we've got to sort out for it's MOT (next week ) it runs like a dream!

I went for a Daihatsu Hijet in the end - tall enough for the dogs to be comfortable, and five passenger seats. The back two seats I've folded up to make room for the dogs though, and I'm considering removing them completely. Poor old Buster can't see over them when he's in the back, so he's kind of in solitary confinement until I get the other dog in eleven days!

I could even remove the seats entirely and sleep in the back of it!

Part of me has always fancied getting an old low-mileage Japanese car... They always seem to be very much 'of their time' and acquire a bit of character as they get older. A friend of mine at college had a pristine old Datsun Sunny with an AM radio - dull as ditchwater when it was new, but quite cool when it was old. And I'd imagine there's a reliability dividend.

I did look at a Sunny when I was looking around at cars. My brother told me that this would be reliable because of it's country of origin. I'm not sure how much parts will be, but as I don't do much mileage anyway it shouldn't need too many new parts.

I've got last year's MOT failure sheet - it failed on two things that are still wrong with it now, so I expect they are 'intermitant' faults that will need a proper look at. It also needs a new windscreen. I've asked the windscreen bloke my dad knows if there is a heated one for the car, but he doesn't think so.

I only know a few people that have gone with Japanese cars, but my Aunt did once and her and her family have never bought European ever again... I've always gone with British or French though - my family always had Renaults, and I've got my venerable Citroen now. Which, touch wood, is behaving itself for the moment. Although the speedometer only works half the time, I suppose I'd better get that fixed before I do my road trip at the end of the month...

Come to think of it, it was a Datsun Cherry I was thinking of, not a Sunny. I bet they've gone through at least 5 different new versions of it since then.

Nowt wrong with Japanese cars. I've always had great respect for the whole Honda range.

Although if one drives a Daihatsu Hijet, one should expect people to point and laugh.

B

We went and put a deposit down on an imported MX5 yesturday, 1995 with 79,000 miles on but in very good nick, looking forward to picking it up next weekend.

Ooh, an MX5

I've always fancied one of those... I suppose like most people, I find a the idea of a little open-top sportscar very appealing. Always thought an MX5 would be out of my price range though - £1500 is the most I've ever been able to spend on a car.

I wouldn't mind something in the pocket-size department though - a Suzuki Cappuccino or a Nissan Figaro, or one of those Smart Coupes.

My brother tried to get me to pick up an MX5 when I was looking for a car after I found myself single again. A two seater sports car is ideal for myself and J.

Master B, am happy to be pointed and laughed at. Quote from my journal at the beginning of the year - "I'm fed up with having a car that looks like everyone else's". I'm happy being the only one on the road - although there is another one in Brentwood as that's how I chose it - I saw one parked up and thought it looked ideal!

Two-fifty for a P reg car in good running order?

Sh*t. That doesn't augur well for the value of my M reg Peugeot with inter-galactic mileage and three sets of collision damage

My L-reg Citroen Xantia estate seems to have gone from £1500 to the square root of all in the year and a half that I've had it...

It does look like a pig, that's probably why. The laquer is peeling off, and there's no paint left on the fibreglass roof at all. Before I decided on it I looked at some reviews, and one of the owners said that they'd had similar problems. Apparently it's because it's silver...

I'm curious now - is there a photo of one you could link to? I have to say, I've no real idea what one looks like.

Yes, I'll even link to mine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4560601504&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

One door looks a different colour - he'd just cleaned that one.

You should have got a Great Dane rather than a greyhound, and called it the Mystery Machine!

It's a little motor though. When I lived in Walthamstow I used to walk past something similar and think it was quite cute. No idea if it was a Daihatsu or a Suzuki or what though...

As the paintwork needs doing up anyway, I might still call it that!

I think the greyhound will take up more room than a Great Dane, despite being smaller - they can't sit properly, and they tend to lie down with their legs out straight. Most dogs at least tuck their legs in. I suppose in a kennel, there's not much chance of getting a slender leg stepped on when someone gets up to make a .

I want to go out driving it - just anywhere for the thrill! But unfortunately the insurance company was closed for the weekend by the time I got home with it yesterday. So I can't.

That must be so frustrating!

I really fancy a new car, just for the hell of it, but I've spent so much to get this one back on the road at the beginning of the year I suppose I ought to stick with it for a while. And it *is* a good ole load-lugger, it's often been useful for chucking a load of my mates and/or their gear into when we want to go somewhere.

It is a bit. I might go out and turn it round, as one of the sliding doors is stuck - an old problem judging by the service history - and we want to give it a clear out.

Mind you, it's so hot today that I don't fancy doing anything out in the sun. I've done some work in my garden, but only in the shady part! I'm trying to make it more usable. Because the dog chose that bit for his 'toilet' and the compost heap was a big mess we were wasting the only bit of shade we've got!

The car looks lovely and roomy - considering there are only two humans we've got a lot of seats! But it can be used as a van as well, which means the next time I go off to the local flat-pack shop I don't have to beg mummy or daddy for a lift! I hope this one lasts, it really seems ideal.

I want to go out and play!

Excellent news!

Vroooooooom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53123830@N00/sets/1071252/

Here it is, getting ready for its respray. Apparently just jet washing it knocked half the laquer off.

You might have to copy and paste that link, as the @ seems to make them unclickable.