And so we got Fuzzer !!

Many many posts ago, I announced that I had passed my English driving test and that I was looking to get a secondhand car. But because we were going on holiday, the search wasn't that serious, wasn't intense and even Fely helped me search for a few, but none ever appealed to me. Before the holiday, we got the Parker's Price Guide (this is a handy guidebook that gives you an idea of how much a second hand car, which model, from which year should ideally sell for so that you don't end up paying too much for a piece of crap). And we found a few potentially good cars within my budget, mostly small and economical so that I don't burn a hole in my pocket filling it up.

Yesterday Steve picked me up after work and we vaguely remember that the auction is normally held on a Tuesday at 4pm, so we decided to 'pop down and have a look look, see see'. It wasn't crowded as usual I think due to the rain but there were still people there who looked like they go there on a regular basis, drinking coffee from their own mugs and I suspect these are people who buy really cheap and tacky looking cars at a ridiculously low price, do them up and sell them again, making loads of money in the process. In the auction, sometimes you get quite lucky and can get some really good deals but these days, small and economical cars are in high demand so it's not surprising that a convertible SAAB or a BMW can fetch less money than a tiny, humble Nissan Micra or Ford KA or Citroen Saxo.

I was eyeing a 7-year-old Nissan Micra, black, with a sunroof (cool, i thought), and with full service history, reasonably low mileage and no visible scratch or dent (that's as much as you can hope for in a second hand car in an auction). Because we have been doing some research online, we know that realistically, this will be well beyond my budget and that other people would outbid my budget of £1500 pounds in a matter of seconds.

Like in a fashion show, the cars are being driven one by one to the bidding area, for people to touch, view and bid for, and then they are driven away again, either sold or rejected (poor things). The bidding process is very very fast (about less than 3 minutes per vehicle) and the guy talks even faster. Took me a few cars to fully understand his lingo and to understand how the bidding goes. Before the Nissan Micra, it was a Perodua Kancil and I was so tempted to bid for it because I had driven one before and I know it's quite okay. But I didn't in the end coz I thought I wanted something different this time and it went for £300, haha.

So finally, in came the Nissan Micra and the bidding started and my heart started to thud thud thud. I told Steve £1500 and that's it. So the bidding started at £800 and went up very quickly till £1200 and then it slowed down and it was a battle between me and another lady. We were very close to getting it at £1300 and suddenly she decided to outbid that and then we were outbidding each other at every £25 and £50 pounds, and brought it up to £1400, and I gave Steve the signal to carry on and we outbid her with £1425, and then £1425 and then he announced again £1425....... silence from the lady..... £1425... and the car is SOLD !! (with a wooden hammer being knocked on the table for the effect) .... and at that moment it hit me.... I just bought a car !!!!! I BOUGHT A CAR !!! yiiiipppieeeeeeeee !!!

It was the colour I like (mind you, when I embarked on a search for a second hand car, I was prepared to take any colour as long as it is in a good condition), and it's well looked after and it was within my budget !! We couldn't believe it. So to cut long story short, an hour later, Fuzzer was home with us. Because part of the registration number has F52ZZR, I decided to name her Fuzzer, haha.

This weekend, we will clean Fuzzer inside and out and I will upload some pretty pictures of Fuzzer for all to see. :)