Car Shopping

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Currently having a frustrating time finding Mrs B another car.  She's wanted a convertible for some time now and because of her dodgy knees it needs to be an automatic, and not stupidly low-slung like my MX5.  While she has champagne tastes, I have a lemonade budget so we've been plumbing the depths of Saab 9-3s (went to see one that was 'mint', had fungus growing in it), Volvo C70s (chocolate gearboxes), Merc CLKs (always, ALWAYS rusty), and Audi/BMWs (always badly modified and/or run on a shoestring).  This morning's contender was a '98 Mercedes SLK.  Looked good, interior sound (usually the paint is flaking off the dash), but a HPI check revealed it was written-off 3 years ago.

So far, this seems to be the absolute worst part of the market to be looking.  Owners seem to scrape together enough cash for piss-poor private number plates and eBay alloys, but servicing it? Nope.

If only she could be happy with a tatty old Rover 75!  I realise it's the automotive equivalent of eating a discarded pizza out of a dustbin, but it TASTES GOOD.

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