Almost everyone I know has been briefed – we just bought a RELIABLE car, that was quite plush and fancy and had leather seats, but was RELIABLE, yet stylish and had a biggish engine but after all was RELIABLE, though also an all-wheel-drive in an awesome two-tone colour combo. I feel guilty that this was an all-out get nude on the leather seats rip roaring monster of a car that we are the ideal demographic hosts for. I’m embarrassed to say that things like cup-holders and mag wheels and THE DECADENT CALF-SKIN LEATHER SEATS were things that I somehow added to my list of essentials as the price rose into the 30k mark. Well, after about 5 semi-sleepless nights I picked it up, and a lot of the tortured nightmares of flaws and cracks and dents and broken engines have been put to rest.
It’s quiet and it looks lovely and once I mastered the lumbar support lever, it actually felt allright to sit in (there was a bit of temporary panic for a few days as I relentlessly tried all settings to achieve a position that didn’t kill my woeful back). We suddenly notice many similar models on the road that are never as nice as ours or as luxurious. We are terrified the dogs will make deep gouges in the rear seats and AFFECT OUR TRADE-IN VALUE. We reassure ourselves that it’s not really one of those big fuel guzzling 4WD’s that go through expensive chunky tyres and emit awful amounts of exhaust fumes into the atmosphere.
We feel good that because it’s so low to the ground, average everyday punters can see through the car toward upcoming obstacles. I have nagging thoughts that we shouldn’t have bought the first Outback we drove, and that ideally, the colour should have matched or offset the house. I wonder how I will wash it without resorting to crude cloths and high-pressure car wash facilities. I hope the leather will not need endless lubrication. I hope that in a year’s time I will say it has been a fantastic servant for us.
