Family car kudos

What’s the most important thing about your family cars?

Is it that it is economical to own?

Is it how it looks or makes you feel?

Is it because it can be relied upon to get you safely from A to B?

And what does any of that say about you, and your motor?

During the summer I took a somewhat drastic car decision.  I replaced my economical seven seat car with two other vehicles.

The first was a twenty year-old Land Rover Defender, MOTd and fully road-worthy.

The second a MK1 VW Caddy pick-up truck, an MOT failure with lots of work required to get it back on the road.

I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking.

What little thought I did muster was overridingly dominated by a will to rid myself of the invisible and sinister cost of depreciation.

Cars just cost so much to own, and I wish there was a more physical sign of them losing value over time.

I also felt it was a ‘now or never’ sale point for my ageing MPV, and as bits had started to fall off it, or generate an increasing resistance to working in the way they were designed to operate, I decided I’d rather have a car falling apart that never really depreciates than one that does.

So now I own two ‘classics’.

I’ve written before about how I think my Land Rover Defender is the perfect family car, not due to its properties, performance or capabilities but because it’s great fun and has become another tool to bring our family together.

It did again recently when it needed a new starter motor.

My other purchase has not been as successful.

It remains off the road, and I, undecided what to do with it.

My ‘Landy’ ownership has not gone unnoticed, to be honest it’s difficult not to notice my 3 tonne ruggedly beautiful brute.

And a few have commented to me perhaps losing my mind, and that ‘they wouldn’t be seen dead in it’.  Good job I’m not offering a funeral car service then.

See, car image is important.

Even to me as it happens.

I actually think this car is a reflection of part of my personality.

It’s a simple, straightforward machine, more about substance than surface.  A surface that is only beautiful to those with strange discerning tastes.

But still, I’m sure to be looking at bargain car deals once I get my pick-up truck sorted.  And any possible replacement for that will probably cover the rest of my personality.

My frugally minded self.

I may need a go-faster stripe.