So, after angst-ing (is there such a word?) about not doing enough in my life the last time I blogged, I did so many things this past weekend that I feel quite tired today.

First of all, it rained loads.  I’m talking, pissing down throughout the day, inches and inches of water on the ground, kind of rain.  All day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Figures, right? A long weekend (yesterday was a bank holiday), and we get bucketloads of rain.  Oh, and by god it was cold.  Hubby and I were out and about on all three days, and boy did I have to get my jumpers out (can you believe it, almost June, and it was 7 C yesterday?!).

Anyway the reason why we were out a lot is because Hubby and I have decided to upgrade our car.  It’s all very exciting, except that I am really not a car person, and therefore my interest extends to a) oh yes, nice interior and b) I prefer that one because the body has curves.  Yes, I am a shallow woman who only wants a nice looking car, that’s me.

So here’s the situation.  We currently own (or rather, hubby owns!) a Toyota Rav4.  It’s a nice, dinky little car (we’ve got the two-door version) that’s perfect for London because it’s small and is ideal for London’s narrow roads and spaces.  However, it’s almost ten years old, and hubby is getting tired of having to squeeze in whenever he drives it.  Hence the upgrade.

Only thing is, we need a car that’s big enough for his mum’s dog (his mum used to have a Renault Espace, but she managed to trash it in an accident - she was fine, but the car had to be written off).  The dog is a greyhound.  And therefore, needs a big car.  So hubby has proposed getting an estate (or a station wagon, as we used to call them back in The Motherland).

Now, bearing in mind that I am no expert on cars, when I was asked what my preference is, I naturally thought BMW :-) My parents used to own a BMW 525i, and that was my favourite car for a long, long time.  A Beemer is great - the engine has a lovely purr and it feels so solid and substantial (a bit like German pianos actually - a lovely warm tone with a solid feeling, unlike Asian pianos which tend to have a tinny sound and are light to the touch).  Hubby meanwhile couldn’t work out which was better - Volvos, Beemers or Mercs.

A visit to a Volvo dealer on Saturday put that out of the equation.  There’s nothing wrong with Volvos, but they’re just … boring.  I know they have a good safety record, but I wasn’t too impressed with the interior and most Volvos are just way too square and boxy.  So Volvos were out.

Yesterday we went to cargiant near Wormwood Scrubs, which is basically a car supermarket.  There are hundreds and hundreds of cars there, all different makes and models.  We got keys to try on a couple of Mercs and a Beemer - you know what? I wasn’t too impressed with the Beemer.  It was a 2001 3 series, but the inside just didn’t feel luxurious enough (do I sound spoilt or what!), and there were scratches on the bonnet (which I know is a bit rich, considering I’ve … umm … added some white streaks to our car having underestimated the space I needed when I was parking next to a white pillar!).

The Mercs, on the other hand, were pretty impressive.  We got keys for a C series and a Kompressor (I have no idea what these mean, other than Kompressors apparently have powerful engines), and yes, they clicked with the spoilt princess in me.  Nice comfy seats that were electronically adjustable - and heated too! I never knew heated seats exist (they’ve now made it near the top of my list of requirements!), but what a brilliant idea, especially in a cold place like this.  What else … the Kompressor had tinted windows, which tickled me.  Oh yes, a lovely part-wood gearbox in both Mercs, with a wooded panel running through the interior (oh, and both boots are big enough for the dog).

For me, Beemers still rule.  A BMW saloon or coupe is just beautiful.  But Beemers cost a lot more, and neither hubby nor I were willing to put up that couple of extra thousand grand just to get the same thing that we can get with a Merc.

Still, you never know.  Hubby has got a couple of weeks to look for a new car, and for all I know, he may just decide to get an Audi or a Saab estate in the end!

PS.  When hubby first said “let’s get an estate”, I was dismayed.  That’s such a family car! I like dinky little cars - say, the Beetle, or the Mini.  But then, realistically speaking, I’m not that likely to be driving it much (driving and I are not good friends!), so I bowed to the inevitable.  So yes, we’re getting a “grown-up” car, as a friend put it last night.