My name's Jon. I sometimes type too much
(BTW, Andy - have you found southwales-suzuki.co.uk yet?)
Fed up with the constant repairs required to keep my BMW 318 touring running, it was time for a new car. Said that a few times before, couldn't find anything decent, repaired the BM instead
This time, it was the radiator throwing coolant all over.I commute by motorbike most of the year, until it gets icy (ie, wet and properly cold. I love properly cold and bone dry!) or snowy. So, many miles less per year on the car, and when I do use it, it's often in the worst weather. Seemed like a 4wd would make sense.
I've tried loads of them, a surprising number of them I just don't fit in very well - I'm 6' 4" (I'd have had a RR years ago if I fitted...); the Grand Vitara was one of the few that felt comfortable. So then I went looking for a "nice" one... by my definition, not by dealers'!
I've always said that colour is the least important thing when buying a second hand car... this time I've had to put my money (£3.3k of it) where my mouth is, as the best car (by a mile) was a lovely metallic Pensioner Racing Beige
It's a 2 litre petrol, manual, '05 with 52k miles, ten main dealer stamps and hardly a mark on it. The wife likes it, daughter likes it, dog likes it, job jobbed. To be honest, it's pretty nice simply as a car for the money, the 4wd is really just a bonus; I think the ground clearance will be more useful in proper snow - after all, snow never stopped me in the BMW, but I did lose bits of it from the underneath and the arches...
Only downside I've found so far is that it's got good tyres on it... sadly, KwikFit's finest Arrowspeeds, which only seem to excel in lasting ages. I'd like to put winters on (I ran the BM on winters all year round, great on the snow, not used much in summer anyway) but I can't really justify binning a basically OK set of rubber for the possibility of a bit of snow sometime; and I can't find a cheap set of alloys about at the moment - I'm not paying to swap the tyres over and back on the same wheels, either! So I've ordered a set of snowsocks just in case (RAC has a good price at the moment - £35 a pair; obviously 2 pairs needed for RWD or 4wd) - previously I've used them on my BM, before I put the winters on, and they worked well, even if a bit of a faff putting on and off. Should be a lot easier on the GV - plenty of hand room in the arches!
In other parts of my life, I'm a Scout Leader (Explorers, which is 13.5 to 18 year olds) so there's been a few times and places I couldn't go quite where I wanted in a regular car; and, like Andy again, I'm an air rifle shooter - mainly target, but I do also have a permission on a mate's smallholding, and we keep chickens at home, so I'm Death To Rats as well
Oh, and this is my other steed - an Aprilia Shiver GT, 750cc V-twin. Coated in ACF50 today as they've started gritting...
