Before And After

BEFORE (as I bought it)

AFTER (as it is today)

Looks a bit better now, doesn't it? (And it's legal)

My (Old) New Car

OK, so I've had it a couple of days now, driving around the village to see what it goes like, and I have to say that it is a nippy little machine. It is also reasonably comfortable and so far, has not let me down.

But ... but (there is always a 'but'), today, I found a major fault with it.

I went to do the weekly food shopping at our local superstore (which for my Kenyan readers, makes Nakumatt look like a corner kiosk). To give you an idea, the car park takes 1,200+ cars, and it is often at least half-full.

And that is where the problem is. My previous car was an MPV, (again, for my Kenyan readers, rather like a matatu), and was easy to spot in a sea of 800 cars. Now, I have a small hatchback that looks the same as every other hatchback (which are very popular here), so finding the car was, er, difficult. So I had to walk around the car park, pushing my trolley to find my new car. I couldn't remember the index number and I was only vaguely aware of what it looks like. It is just a dark blue hatchback, like about 50% of the other cars there.

Obviously, I found it eventually, and have made a mental note to make sure I park next to or near a landmark on my next shopping trip. Today, it was not too bad. The sun is out and it is warm (17°C - OK, I know that is not warm by Kenyan standards, but here, it is bliss).

All the shopping fitted into the car without problem, so it has passed that test. Maybe I ought to tie a couple of helium balloons onto it next time.

My New Old, or maybe, Old New Car

It's a bit strange. I am used to driving automatic transmission Isuzu Troopers, Nissan Terranos, Pajeros, Transits and Mazda Bongos, so getting into a manual transmission Subaru Justy is odd. I can't see over the car in front and the door mirrors are so small that I can't even see them!

I'll get used to it, I'm sure. I will have to. This is my new mode of transport.

It needs a bit of fixing. It had been owned by a 19 year old, so it has been modified a bit, notably both rear wings are slightly concave, but a dent puller will sort that out.

It needs a front number plate, a passenger seatbelt and a few nuts and bolts to be replaced to stop various bits rattling. I should replace the exhaust. The car sounds like an Impreza at the moment, but that can wait for a while.

But it goes. The brakes work, the tyres are good (ish), the engine and steering work and it has 6 months on the MoT.

The best of all is that the VEL is almost half the cost of my last car, as is the fuel consumption. So I should recuperate the £100 I paid for it in next to no time, as long as I don't incur any expensive repair bills.

All in all, and despite my bum dragging along the road (or so it seems), I think I will quite like this little car.