BMW return

In October 2015 my lovely Jaguar let me down. The automatic gearbox developed a fault and, whilst that didn't actually recur, I did get a message on the panel that announced a problem that needed attention. The garage didn't see anything obvious but any attempt at investigation, never mind repair would have cost a fortune. That's been the problem with my Jaguars (except the XJ). Each had a problem that would have cost more to fix than they were worth. Such a shame.

As it happened, Kirri, now 17, would need a car soon and so I looked around for something for him which I could use in the meantime. I sold the Jaguar on WeBuyAnyCarDotCom which was simple and, whilst I didn't get much for it, I knew that, with the light displaying the problem, it would not sell privately at all. So I lost a bit of money on that but it had been great fun while it lasted.

I found a black VW Jetta 1.6FSI which had lots of nice equipment, great wheels and generally looked a little bit like the Jaguar from some angles! I was happy to drive it and Kirri would be delighted to have this as hs car too. Most impressive and it was very inexpensive and not too much to insure, surprisingly.

In November I also found a car for myself and it was a return to BMW which had been pretty reliable i the past for me. This also had the same 2.5 litre engine, making it the third. This one was a lovely 1999 323iSE Coupé in blue with a beige, haf-leather, half cloth interior. It even has some wood. It looks quite old-style inside, especially with the wood, but this car was a huge bargain. I had found it in Autotrader, advertised at £1400 or thereabouts as I recall. With only 75000 miles on the clock it seemed too good to be true. It's old, older than my green 523iSE, but with such a low mileage it had to be worth viewing. It was a long trip down to somewhere in Essex or Kent to see it but worth the effort. very nice and immaculate all round with what seemed a good history too. Indeed, my only worry was that it had done so few miles in recent years. I offered the guy £1200 but he turned me down. I said I'd get back to him.

When I got home I looked at some other cars and also checked out Ebay. Guess what! I found the same car there for auction. His son must have put it on Ebay. There had been a few bids already and it was due to end in a couple of days but I don't think there was any reserve and it was only standing at around £400 at the time. I thought that it was a good buy at £1200, probably would have been a good buy at the full price too. anyway I set up a bid for £1200 and waited to see how it went.

Amazingly, I won the car at just £949!! I was so pleased and immediately paid for it to ensure that no-one could change their mind and I was also keen to confirm the deal before the father realised who I was!!

David Meager, a colleague from Dunstable College and now an occasional web client, offered to run me down to collect it. Nimali took me to Studham and then he took me from there. He was most impressed with my bargain. I was dead nervous coming away as the car was showing empty and I had no idea where any fuel station might be. It was a huge relief to find one a little way along the road. It was a great buy indeed. For some time the gearbox would be lazy and I would need to use the manual sports mode to persuade it to change up sometimes. As the months passed, though, it became more and more responsive and seems to have fixed itself. I think it just needed to be driven. I suspect that it has seldom gone past 2000 rpm in its life too! Really pleased with this and it's a lovely looking model too. With S1X AH on the plate it looks great and nothing like as old as it is.