It’s common opinion that if you have a fun car, you must also own a practical car. Whilst it’s my opinion that my Capri is perfectly practical and that it was my sole vehicle for a year, my desire for it not to rust in winter, as well as my inherited hunger for buying cars, made me look into said second car. My dilemma was that I’m rather particular when it comes to my cars and I have certain criteria. Firstly (and most importantly), it has to have a certain ‘coolness factor’, something I’m happy to be seen driving around in, which excludes anything dull (a problem when buying a practical car). Secondly (and most boringly), it has to be cost-effective and work within my pretty small budget when considering cost and insurance prices.
Armed with these strict rules, I set out onto Marketplace and eBay with the intention to buy. I looked at (rusty) Jag saloons and a Saab 900 saloon that turned out to be ridiculous to insure, before I found the 2004 Jeep Cherokee 2.5 CRD that I bought. When I went to see it, I was happy enough with it: it was comfortable for long distances, reasonably efficient and had a few mod-cons.
Since then, it’s been a mixed bag. The car I bought did a large chunk of miles, going back and forth between Devon and London a few times, as well as regular drives up to Bristol and Cardiff. This meant I was pretty confident when my friend suggested a road trip down to Gibraltar. We had made it just past Tours when it decided to pack up, with the alternator pulley wearing out, meaning the fan belt assembly was useless. Having had that repaired, it drove home from France no problem and was promptly broken into upon its return. Is it cursed? Maybe. What I do know is that I like it enough to keep it alive, and so far it’s been good to me.
I suppose the moral of the story is if you’re going to buy a £1500 car, be prepared to invest in it. But you already knew that.