I like driving in my car! (Part Eight)

Prior to me selling my beloved Renault 5 GT Turbo, my other half and I had decided we’d buy a brand new car which would be up-to-date in terms of build quality, safety and reliability. We actually decided what we would get whilst we were on holiday in the summer of 2001; we were sitting on the balcony of our apartment thumbing through some car magazines and we found an article about the new Mini which was now going to be built by BMW. I can’t recall the precise moment when we actually decided to buy one, but by this time we had some savings put away, plus Martin was owed some money by his dad. This, along with a modest bank loan, was to pay for the car, and this was also in our carefree days when we had no huge mortgage hanging round our necks or major DIY projects to undertake, both of which we have now after living in our new house for almost two years! Anyway, soon after returning from our holiday we went to our nearest BMW dealer in Cobham, Surrey, to have a look at the new Mini and arrange a test drive. We were both very impressed and excited on looking round the demonstrators in the showroom, and immediately arranged to take a test drive the following week. Martin wasn’t confident to drive the car himself as he felt somewhat self-conscious to be driving an unfamiliar car with the salesman on board, and so it was I who took the car out, although Martin did accompany us and sat in the back.

Much had been documented in the press about the superb handling of the new car, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We were fortunate enough to live in a fairly rural location at the time and so it was along some nice country lanes that I drove the car, testing it to its full capabilities through the bends. I’d never driven a ‘classic’ mini other than for about 5 minutes years and years ago so I couldn’t really compare the old and new cars, but from what I had read and heard the new car had been designed to echo the ‘go-kart’ handling of its predecessor, and I certainly couldn’t disagree with that. The only slight disappointment for me was the capability of the engine itself, which was certainly not up to the high standards of speed and acceleration of the GT Turbo, but it was still great fun to drive and made any doubts about buying the car disappear instantly. The slightly lacklustre performance from the standard Cooper was obviously a deliberate marketing ploy by BMW as they were saving the supercharged Cooper S for a later date, a car which by all accounts is the perfect balance between performance and handling. A few days later we had chosen our car in terms of colour (British Racing Green with a white roof), wheels (white-painted alloys) and options, and proceeded to pay another visit to the showroom where I paid our deposit and signed on the dotted line.

After an agonisingly long 3 month wait, we finally collected our new Mini in early November 2001, and we were like a couple of kids with a new toy; neither of us had ever owned a new car before and our excitement grew to ridiculous levels. There was no doubt as to who was going to be using the Mini for everyday use; it was always seen as a replacement for my Renault as I had a much longer journey to work and thus the new car would be better in terms of fuel economy and safety. Besides, there was no way I was going to be driving Martin’s old banger of a Ford Fiesta for my 34 mile round trip to work every day! As much as I was still missing my beloved GT Turbo, I was also enjoying our new pride and joy immensely. As the new Mini was still a rare sight on the roads at this time, it was fun to be driving a real head-turner and enjoy the occasional headlight flash from other Mini owners, both from the new version and the ‘classic’ Mini.

Once the GT Turbo had been sold, we set about looking for a replacement for Martin’s Fiesta which was really starting to show its age. We soon decided that we should be thinking of something more ‘sensible’ for our second car, the sensible bit being that we wanted a diesel for me to use on the long run to work and back, which would conversely allow Martin to be able to use the Mini for his much shorter journey thus keeping the mileage to a minimum on our new car. Initially we looked at the Peugeot 306 turbo diesel as the ideal car; it was economical, roomier than the Mini which had almost non-existent rear legroom, yet it was still a stylish looking car with some credibility. After leafing through Auto Trader over several weeks, we found a suitable example which was for sale privately, and went to see the car one blisteringly cold and snowy Sunday afternoon in December. Again, I was ‘volunteered’ to test drive the car, and I was pleasantly surprised. It had been a while since I’d driven a turbocharged car and although it was a diesel it was surprisingly peppy. Unfortunately the car also had a few more scratches and bumps than we deemed acceptable for a car of its age, and the interior was woefully dated and up to the usual dubious build-quality standards of a French car.

We went back to the drawing board again but couldn’t really think of a suitable alternative. However, I spotted what I thought would be a good compromise and a supremely practical car for us at a small second-hand car dealer which I used to pass every day on my daily journey to work. Although it’s very much a typical granddad’s car and even more commonly used as the private cabbie’s favourite, I’d always been an admirer of the Citroën Xantia as my mum had owned two consecutive examples whilst she and her husband were living in France. It was a car which I’d always thought was rather handsome in a stately home kind of way, and coupled with the fact that it was roomy, comfortable and very economical with the renowned turbo diesel engine which it shared with its Peugeot cousin, I really thought it was the ideal ‘sensible’ second car for us. The later generation Xantia was also built at the time when Citroën had started their ‘load-em-up-and-sell-em-cheap’ philosophy, and so this particular model came with, amongst other things, air-conditioning, all-round leccie windows, rear head restraints, rain sensing wipers and twin air bags. It also had a rear boot-lid spoiler which, although perhaps a little pretentious for a dowdy family car with no sporting pedigree, did lend the car a certain something which just managed to save it from plummeting into the gaping abyss that is fuddy-duddy land. I’m not sure the folding armrest on the drivers’ seat did anything to augment this, but then you can’t have everything can you?

Martin was less enthusiastic about my idea as he’s not a great fan of French cars (the Peugeot 306 being a rare exception) and with his constant eye on the fact that cars and houses should always be bought with resale values in mind, he didn’t see the Citroën as a good investment as far as its rate of depreciation was concerned, a fair point which I couldn’t really argue with. However, I managed to persuade him that it would be a good buy in every other sense with the greatly appreciated assistance of some glowing references from my mum, and so after the obligatory test drive and bartering with the dealer, we picked up the car for a very reasonable price considering it had only covered 25,000 miles from when it was new in 1999. There was a slight problem with the clutch being very heavy (something I’d not really noticed when testing it as I’d been very used to the heavy clutch on the GT Turbo) but fortunately this was resolved by the dealer paying half of the cost to replace it, but other than that it was a good solid car.

The Mini had a few teething troubles - something which is to be expected (though not necessarily accepted) on an early example of a brand new car – including a customer-wide recall to replace the gearbox, a mysterious squeak which eventually turned out to be the driver’s seat, one of the electric wing mirror motors failing, and a leak somewhere in the boot which to this day still hasn’t been remedied because the dealer can’t find where the water is coming in! Fortunately these are all problems which were covered in the warranty, though we did experience some appalling service from the dealer including the car being damaged whilst it was in for repair. This prompted several heated phone calls and letters to the manager, including a statement that I would write to What Car? in order to ‘name and shame’ if I wasn’t given some sort of compensation for the hassle caused and blasé attitude of the staff concerned. They eventually offered a measly £150 as a ‘gesture’ which in the end we accepted, though not before we’d expressed our opinion at such a laughable offer!

Although the Mini was comfortably affordable at the time, we soon realised that we were going to need all the money we could lay our hands on to go towards the vast amount of work needed on our new house, and so we decided to put the car up for sale in the summer of 2002 so we could buy a cheaper replacement and use the remaining cash for home improvements. Unfortunately, we’ve still got the bloody thing because no-one seems to want it; it seems that everyone these days demands either air-conditioning or a CD player (or preferably both) but our car has neither, as we preferred to have a sunroof and save some money by sticking with the standard cassette player, but in hindsight it appears that we should have paid the extra at the time. Ironically, as time has passed we’ve managed to build up our savings again which means that we now have less reason to have to sell the Mini, but in a way we still want to just out of principle. So if anyone has a spare £10K or so and wants a lovely Mini Cooper, let me know!

The Citroën has actually been far more reliable, though it has cost us a fair whack in servicing, as well as recently having some parts replaced on the complex hydro-pneumatic suspension system. I also made a slight faux-pas one day by absent-mindedly putting unleaded petrol in the tank instead of diesel, an accident I won’t be looking to repeat as it cost us £300 to put right and more importantly a week in the dog-house for me. I’m not sure if the fact that we bought the Xantia in my 30^th year of existence is a coincidence or not; they say it’s all down hill once you get past 30 and you’re suddenly into middle-aged territory. I’d still love to have my GT Turbo back as it was such fun, but it’s no lie that I really do enjoy wafting about in the Xantia. As I’ve already mentioned, it has a nice fold-down armrest in between the front seats which I use all the time, it’s lovely and comfy, especially on long journeys, and I certainly wouldn’t have a car now without air-conditioning. It’s also great for carting loads here there and everywhere, and is extremely economical on long journeys (it’ll do over 600 miles on one tank of fuel on a motorway run). You see? One minute I’m the archetypal lead-foot Lil, banging on about my gas-guzzling boy-racer mobile, and the next minute I’m extolling the virtues of fuel economy and bloody arm rests. Is there any hope for me, I wonder?

It’s certainly true that 21^st century Citroëns plummet in value very quickly and are not the most respected make of car in this day and age, but I do think this is a crying shame as they were once at the forefront of cutting-edge design and technology, literally decades ahead of their rivals. Some of you may remember the CX and GS models from the late seventies, and of course the 2CV which attained a similar cult status to the Beetle and the original Mini, but what about the exquisite Traction Avant/Light 15 from the 1940’s and the revolutionary DS from 1955? These really were ground-breaking cars in their time, the Traction Avant introducing such unheard of ideas as independent suspension and front-wheel drive, and the DS with its futuristic and breathtakingly beautiful curves, hydro-pneumatic suspension, crumple zones and headlights which turned with the car around corners. Unfortunately the rest of the world eventually caught up but Citroën could no longer sustain their lead and became merely ‘quirky’ instead. Lately their cars have become just plain ugly, though fortunately they now seem to be making amends.

Anyway, I digress; it’s ironic that Martin and I actually drive each other’s cars, i.e. I’m the registered owner of the Mini and he of the Xantia, but I’m happy with that. I’m not sure if we’ll sell the Mini in the foreseeable future, or how long we’ll keep the Citroën. I may have entered middle-aged car territory now and no longer be whizzing about in a hot-hatch, but I still like driving in my car, and always will.