Hello NEW Car!

Today we bought a new car! The car that I originally fell in love with 2 months ago. And now it's mine!!

The Volvo XC60. We test drove 3 different models of the car. Then we went over to BMW and test drove the new X1 4WD. It's barely a 4WD though, not much bigger than the 1 series coupe. I admit, the BMW was really nice, but pretty small in the back. The boot in the Volvo is bigger too, which is important to me. There is a 3 month wait for the BMW as well, but the Volvo just landed in the country and I will have my new car in 3 weeks. Which really helped make the decision easy for us.

Here is my new car. Need to think of a good strong name for him. Volvo. Vovo. Iced Vovo. Olvo. Olva? Oh gosh, ok, maybe he will just be XCEEEEEE.

Mine is Black Exterior with Cream leather interior. We drove behind one last night on the Harbour Bridge and it was so cute and fiece! When you brake hard, the brake lights are a special LED pattern that flash at you. Disco Volvo!

Now I am officially a Volvo driving Soccer Mum! Woo!

1 thing ticked off my list. 9128 things to go!

xx

Bye Bye New Car...

I have endured the most frustrating 4 days. I cannot believe it.

After waiting 2 months for my new car, we are recinding on the contract of purchase. I won't name the dealership we bought the car from, but after some digging around, they have a known reputation for terrible customer service and shady servicing.

On Friday, we were excited to collect our Land Rover Freelander 2 4WD, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Today my husband came to an agreement with the sales manager to recind the contract because the car was not in mint condition, despite being brand new. Covered in scratches, the whole body of the car. They refused to do a repaint on the car and refused to do anything really. They were happy for us to walk away from the contract and be on our way. In many ways, I am relieved about the whole situation. I had a weird feeling about it from Day 1. I didn't like the sales guy, nor the customer service. I actually didn't even test drive the car, only my husband did. After test driving EVERY OTHER CAR on the market in our budget, we based our decision to purchase the Freelander on logic and a little desperation.

So now, here we are. 2 months later and NO CAR. We know that if we want something new, we will have to wait for a spec model from overseas. So we are considering buying an ex-demonstrator from a dealership too.

These are the cars we are looking at this weekend.

I am in love with the new Volvo XC60 4WD. We looked at this car 2 months ago at another dealer and I fell in love with it immediately. The sales guy gave Abigail the most AMAZING red ballon while we inspected the car. I almost loved the car that little bit more, because of the perfect red balloon that came with it.

This is the BMW 3 Series Touring wagon. This is the 1st car we looked at and it was slightly out of our budget. It still is, but I am being hopeful that $20K will fall in my lap this week so I could afford this beast.

This the Audi A4 Avant wagon. This is the 2nd car we went to look at and is also out of our budget but we may have found an ex-demo available in Sydney which would be fantastic. Saw another Mum driving this over the Anzac Bridge a few weeks ago and she looked pretty cool in it. Maybe I could be that cool Mum, hahaha.

Subaru Outback AWD. We *almost* bought this car. We were having the papers drawn up, and would have taken delivery 2 weeks after that, as the car was already in stock and in the country. It's very safe and affordable, but something is holding me back. I can't put my finger on it. I was really surprised though, at how far Subaru's have come, it was really nice inside and had all the latest specs and techs inside. This would suit us too as it is suitable for alpine conditions and we could take this to Thredbo in winter and not worry about chains for blizzards etc.

So, here are. Starting from scratch all over again. I'm not going to dwell on the whole thing, because I vented all weekend about it and it's over now. We aren't buying that car and that's the end of it.

Here's to more car shopping this weekend. More sales pitches. More free coffee. And hopefully, more red balloons.

xx

The New Car Smell... DELAYED again!

UPDATE - I did NOT pick up my car today. The car was not in mint condition when we arrived at the dealership to collect it. I almost cried with frustration. After waiting 45 minutes at the dealership, we told them to fix the problem PRONTO and left. Cannot believe how imcompetant people can be. It's a car, how HARD is it to stick to a contract!??! 2 months I've been waiting for this car. And it arrived in the country 7 weeks ago! It's been sitting at the dealership, just delayed for various reasons.

Will update soon on the situation. I think I sprouted 50 new grey hairs after today's dilemmas.

Husband just bought us a Land Rover Freelander 2. Black exterior. Almond leather interior. Booyah! Cannot wait to take my new baby for a long drive. We are going to the beach house on Saturday for the long weekend and can't wait to break in the car on the freeway.

J and I have debated over a name for a car, which we think is both very important. My 1st car was named Snow White. My car in Singapore was just named 'Jetta' after the model of the car, we were obviously in a bad mood when we named him, haha. Husband's 1st car was named Bessie, his 2nd car that we just sold was named Alberto after the stud Italian alpine skier Alberto Tomba. At the moment, we are planning to name the new car Lando Calrissian after the General in the Star Wars movies. I am aware Lando Calrissian was a black character in the movies, and the car is black, but also because the car is a Land Rover... Lando... Land Rover... You get my drift, haha.

Here is my new car, but mine is black. Will post some pics of mine as soon as I get the keys!

xxx