How I ended up buying a Focus Titanium X...

I had owned my 97 2.5TDi Audi A6 for nearly 10 years, buying it with 160k on the clock...

It has been an outstanding car - reliable as taxes and - over the 142k miles I traveled, has averaged 42mpg. No small feat for a large estate with 4WD...

However, like any ageing prestige-brand car, the inevitable expenses started cropping up. I had already spent the thick end of £1000 on it this year, and could see that, in order to get it through its MoT in October - and to do some cosmetic paintwork - it was going to cost me another £2500 or so. So I had resigned myself to this being the last year I owned it.

Truth be told, I no longer need a car like this. Since my folks died I no longer have to make the 500+ mile return trip to see them every month - and I also don't need to do 5 x 50 mile return trips on my commute, as I only work three days a week and one of them from home.

A workmate of mine owned a Volvo with the same engine fitted - and it failed the MoT spectacularly early last month, so he decided to bring plans to replace his car forward. After shopping around he decided to buy a new Fiesta from the local Ford dealer. He mentioned to me that they had reintroduced the 'Scrappage' system, designed to encourage old diesel owners to replace their cars. They gave him £2000 trade-in

To cut a long story short...

They gave me £4850 for my 97 A6 with 302k miles on it against a new Focus - and financed the rest at 0%...

My mate and I set off at 0600 yesterday morning and drove the 180ish miles to Bridlington (the Focus is being replaced by a new model - hence the good deal - they are trying to clear stock and Richardson Ford in Bridlington had the spec of car I was looking for). Great run through the Lincolnshire Wolds along Caister High Street, ragging the bits off the old girl for the last time. As she was being cubed by the scrap merchant, I was carrying a load of stuff that I would have had to pay to dispose of at the tip - including a couple of motorbike tyres, some tins of paint and a mop...

Arrived in good time, and was given a comprehensive run down of the (very extensive) equipment on the new car.

It has a three cylinder 1000cc petrol engine, that they somehow get 125bhp out of...

A very pleasant drive back, marred only by my first ever attempt to use a reversing camera...

I think I may need to use Park-Assist in future...

 

Hi Welcome