Halfway (outside the) house

Now the deal is done on the CLS, my next task is to cash in the Euro 4 E220 bus for one of these trade-in bonuses. Of the makers who might have vehicles to interest us, VW's £5,000 (£5,500 for an e-Golf) is much the juiciest. Citroën would give us £3,900 (and PCP at 0%) against a Cactus, but I think our pattern of use indicates something at least part-electric, so a Golf GTE is the early favourite.

There aren't really any options we need, so it ought to be a pretty simple matter of choosing a colour and placing an order, but this will be the car MrsB1 uses. (Nearly wrote 'drives' there; perhaps 'operates' will do.) The GTE has blue highlights outside and in, which look best against a pale colour - white or Silver White - and with the respect-the-classics tartan fabric interior. Only she 'hates' the fabric, and wants a dark blue exterior. Fine for a red-highlighted petrol GTI, but somehow missing the point of the GTE, I feel.

A leather interior is a £2,000 package option, and the £750 compromise of alcantara and black fabric seems like an expensive way to make the car less appealing. Am I on to a loser here? White with tartan looks modern and classic at the same time; Atlantic Blue is a nice enough colour, but that with black just seems dull. Should I care?

Probably right. I convinced myself of much the same yesterday.

Thinking, not likely to be doing. I don't think the i3 has enough room in the back seat to be a viable three-seater, which we need it to be for those times when one parent is away on a long trip in the big car.

It's also - with the distorting effect of the current trade-in offers - significantly more expensive than either voltage-enhanced Golf. And MrsB1 would insist on the REx version, which is slower and even more expensive.

So, while I could be wrong and my BMW salesman will do his best to convince me I am, I think we're now pretty firmly set on the Golf course.

Leaf. 30 Kwh. All you need. Nissan dealers seem very keen, and some even have a dedicated EV Customer Service person.

Buying any Korean car seems very much like I'd imagine it might be the day you decide buy your first pair of mail order elastic waisted trousers. Good value no doubt, inarguably comfortable, and entirely practical of course. But there would always be the suspicion, not least in in your own mind, that you may just have started on the road to to giving up on life as a bad job.

Do you have a pair?
😉