We spent almost 3 hours in a car dealership yesterday pondering over buying a new car…..the people where very nice and gave us coffee and a free test drive of their new model (a Citroen Berlingo Multispace) Now as a rule I have absolutely no interest in cars whatsoever….to me they are just a means of getting from a to b. I do appreciated however that somebody, somewhere has designed, engineered and manufactured this gas polluting evil of the modern world. To be honest if it were not for work I wouldn’t have one……I didn’t learn to drive until I was 35 and then….bingo (or Berlingo)….here I am spending nearly 3 hours talking about cars and trying to look interested and as if I know something!
A very nice sales man called Dave sat us down in front of his computer and started talking about ‘horse power’ ‘engine size’ and ‘doing nought to sixty in 12.5 seconds’……yawn! That’s all very well but how much? And what about part exchange? And? And?………isn’t it funny how car sales people always leave the most important stuff till the very end…..after almost three hours of seductive talk, tea, coffee and a nice drive….they tell you the stuff you really wanted to know and would of taken just 2 minutes of complete honesty. But no……like some ritual Japanese tea ceremony…..buying a car is not that simple.
Let’s face it, if my faithful 8 year old Vauxhall Agila wasn’t on its last legs and I didn’t need it for work I wouldn’t even be here…..what the hell I’m I doing here? I used to be a PUNK!!
The New Citroen Berlingo
But here I am now, looking at the Berlingo with envious eyes just ready to throw all my phantom children’s hard earned inheritance away.
OK, it’s no great looker, no fanny magnet and it certainly won’t impress the neighbours but it will get us from A to B, carry all our art materials and keep us in work for a few years more. It is stylish in a ‘French’ kind of a way and it drives well I suppose, It looks a bit like a van and that’s exactly what it is a car come van….all the rage in Paris so I’m told!
When the Berlingo first came out in 1998 Jeremy Clarkson from BBC’s Top Gear programme apparently raved about this motorised machine which resulted in everybody going out and buying one, increasing sales three fold…..all I can say is I never watch the programme and Jeremy Clarkson is a T**t.
Salesman Dave god bless him did his best to close the deal there and then but we decided to sleep on it and do a bit of research but buying a car is a big commitment Dave and we must be sure we’ve got the right one……I think he understood but he did have a bit of a houndog look about him after three hours of love making to us, he even called his boss over to join in the ‘love fest’
If you want to kill a couple of hour, have a day out then book a free test drive…tis fun!
Well I’m off now to do a bit of research into cars….. got any tips? ;-)
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