twobears

Husband's old boss used to stand behind his desk all day. The staff reckoned he had haemorrhoids

You are a braver man than me so well done and I hope all works out well for you and your degu

Thanks Atkin - definitely not in a hurry for the car, well I am but bit pointless having a car in the UK when I am out of the country NeilMH, I am definitely still favouring the ST2

Hmm, I've just made my decision a bit harder by driving the Cooper S and liking that one too Drove the A1 and it found it dull and the spec was poor too . Surely a demonstrator shouldn't come complete with irritating rattle? Does anyone know how long a dealer will 'hold' a car for you before you take delivery? I am slightly sketchy on when I want it to arrive as we are going to live in Spain and I need it some time in the new year but not sure exactly when. I know I can order it and ask for it to be low priority but will they store it for me? Or maybe delay the build until I am closer to being ready for it? I should have asked them at the time but I was wary of asking too many silly questions all in one test drive

Thanks Atkin. I will be in touch when I'm ready to order it

Yup, and you were right. I have had a nice drive now and have taken the late Michael Winner's words on board and calmed down. I have to wait a few months before I get the car so no point in living in a state of overexcitement for too long, far too exhausting I do keep returning to the brochure for a sneaky peek though

Well done Son Numero Uno then, 'cos it is luvverly I'm off for a relaxing drive in Mr Zedders now because I am getting too hyper according to Mr Two Bears

Now you come to mention it, it didn't feel cramped inside, no, even though it is not the largest car from the outside. Never thought about that to be honest. The build quality felt very good, really solid and the suspension was very firm which is how I like it (no jokes please ) and the Recaro seats were uber comfortable. It wasn't champing at the bit around town but when I got it onto a good road and opened it up it was very responsive. Sorry, I'm babbling on now but I feel really excited to be getting it, even though I have to wait a while

Well, I drove it today and I loved it Also drove a couple of Seats because I was trying to convince myself that I would be fine driving a small car/small family car but erm, I wasn't I am not buying my new car until the end of the year but unless the Audi A1 or Mini Cooper knock my socks off tomorrow the Fiesta it is, and me a confirmed Ford 'hater' too. Ha ha, just goes to show. So grateful to a certain forum member (you know who you are ) for pointing me in the direction of the Fiesta as I would never, ever have considered it otherwise. Mr Two Bears sat in the back and said that I had a silly grin on my face all the while I was driving the Fiesta but I was just chatting with the salesman whilst driving the other two. It even comes in a fabulous metallic blue that is not unlike Mr Zedley so what's not to like?

Thanks atkin. I'm still very much in the research stage at present and won't be ready to buy for a while but will get in touch with you if I decide to go down the Ford route

Well I never thought I would buy a Ford but I'm keeping a very open mind on this one so thanks for the heads up

I really like the look of the Fiesta ST now I have had time to research it and am hoping to take a test drive in it tomorrow, although the garage's system was down so they are supposed to be ringing me back to confirm. I love the metallic blue colour so will definitely be getting that option if I end up with the Fiesta. How girly of me - oops

choptop, I had ruled out Fords but have just taken a look at the Fiesta ST and it actually looks quite nice so will add it to my list - thanks

I'd not considered the Clio but will have a look at it online to see what I think Daughter loves the Fiat 500 but I think it looks too small?

I guess the only way I'll really come to a decision is by test driving all the cars on my shortlist. I will be sharing it with my daughter but I get the casting vote 'cos I'm paying for it. I think I will try to drive as many as I can over the weekend so that I can compare them side by side as it were. I have never agonised as much over buying a new car as I have with this one

Oh dear. I don't want dull

Sorry for all the 'other car' questions but I am now wondering whether I should consider the Audi A1 as well as the Mini? Any thoughts?

Er, thanks for that rather dubious offer Ricey How much do quad bikes cost? Maybe I should get one. I've always fancied one. I expect the whippet would like to ride on the back when she's finished running - ha ha

The Virgin what? No, it's just two hours quad biking at an outdoor activities centre in North Yorkshire. I don't go in for 'Red Letter Day' experiences myself because I know they are overpriced rubbish but daughter really wants to go quad biking and we haven't got any quad bikes so I need to find someone who hires them out and also somewhere off-road to take them.

They are asking £158 each which seems overpriced to me. Apparently we get instruction but how much instruction can you possibly need??

Daughter wants to go on a 2 hour quad bike 'experience' for her birthday so I have been looking up prices and it seems incredibly expensive, especially as I also have to pay for her boyfriend to go and, if they are both going, I want to go too Has anyone been on similar thing and, if so, where did you go and how much did you pay? I have been on an hour's trip before when we were on holiday in Cumbria but can't remember for the life of me how much I paid.

vansman, I was thinking of buying new or nearly new and kind of hoping that we wouldn't have too many of the type of problems which come with an older car - fingers crossed!! Ekona, yes, I know what you are saying - they are popular so I will have heard of more problems with them than with a rarer model. I think it's just that I have only personally known two girls with Minis but that means that 100% of Mini owners (from my admittedly statistically unviable sample ) have experienced problems with their cars. G Man, not really started looking yet but will look into the TLC cover. Sounds very girly - lol

Thanks vansman Those problems don't sound great to be honest but it appears that girls do love their Minis, no matter what!

I'm thinking of getting a Mini to replace daughter's Fiat Panda but just wondered if they had any reliability issues? I know two people with Minis and who've had problems - two completely different problems - so don't want to make a mistake buying this car. Both girls sold their Minis and one moved to a BMW but they are both back in Minis now so that reassures me slightly but I would still like some advice if anyone has any thoughts either good or bad about Minis please

Only Tony and I are moving to Madrid, everyone else will stay here, including all the cats, dogs, horse, geese, ducks, hens, guinea pigs, rabbits and fish We are going to rent in Spain for the first six months to get the lie of the land before deciding what to do