Ullo Ian, Gotta New Motor?

We never had a car when I was growing up and I've never really got into the 'car' thing.  Most of my adult life, I've lived in cities: Southampton, Edinburgh and now Glasgow and I've never thought that a car was a necessity to city live.  Of course they come in handy for holidays etc and I used to hire cars for such occurrencies.  I have owned a few cars in my time though and I do appreciate that they can be useful, especially if you have a family.  My previous car was bought specifically to tow my tourer caravan but as I've now no longer got my caravan, I no longer required such a large car.  I had to scrap that car last week after the Head Gasket blew and considered doing without a car, at least for a while.  However I then realised that I wouldn't be able to get to some races that I'd like to run, including last week's Dundonald 10k, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy one.

I'm on car buying either but I did know that if you are going to buy a used car then the end of the month is the time to do it as showrooms have their monthly quota to reach.  I turned to the experts on used cars and everything else Which and discovered that the best used small cars were the Ford Fiesta; Vauxhall Corsa and Honda Jazz and decided to see which ones were on sale within a short bike ride from my home.  The other problem is that Arnold Clark seems to own all the Car Showrooms but they have a terrible reputation.    I did look at a couple of their cars last weekend but I just couldn't ignore the bad reviews, so I went to Honda Dealer, Henry Cars on Titwood Road instead.  The reviews of the Honda Jazz were very impressive and although it's officially a supermini, many people consider it as a compact MPV due to the massive flexibility of the interior and seating arrangement, which would allow me to transport my bike, without having to buy a bike rack.  It has a 366 litre boot!

Here's a review video
and here's the Which one: video

My New Car

Henry's had two identical 2009 registered Honda Jazz 1.4 I-VTEC ES 5DR Hatchbacks both marked at the same price, the only difference being that one was purple and one was black and the purple one had done 2,000 miles less than the black one.  Unlike at  Arnold Clark, I actually had to go into the Showroom to get a Sales Executive, absolutely no pressure at all.  I had actually been thinking recently after the report from Arnold Clark's Training Division that slated the work readiness of Scottish school leavers that, it might help if  his staff was more diverse and representative of society, rather than all white men.

As it happened not only was the Sales Executive female but she actually came from Stewarton, where I was brought up.  After a quick check to ensure my bike would fit in the car, we went for a test drive and the car performed well.  So much smoother and quieter than the old Sportage and a range of mod cons which come as standard, including a cool box, handy for storing pre and/or post run drinks!

With no trade in and no finance required as I was paying by cash, the negotiations were relatively straightforward, with me saying how much discount I was looking for and knowing that it was the last day of the month.  The car came with one year manufacturer's warrant and breakdown coverage too, a look at the service history and MoT revealed that the car had been fitted with two new tyres.  Although I didn't get the full discount that I had asked for I was more than happy with the deal and the overall approach by Henry's who seem to be geared towards repeat custom rather than the quick buck approach of some other companies.

Which member give the Jazz a glowing resume and hold the car in high regard.  Hopefully I will join them, in the meantime if you are looking to purchase a car, you could do much worse than giving Henry Cars a visit.