‘It’s so practical’

Our mate Rachel grabs a load-lugger

Previously in Bangernomics: I bought

Matt George’s VW Polo (name Percy). Percy was incredibly cheap and quite brilliant, too. He turned me into a Bangernomics addict – why would anyone want to spend more money on a car? At the time I sold Percy, I went off travelling and, upon my return, decided I needed another great car for no money – this one needed to be a load-lugger. I read the last issue of PC and saw that Danny had bought an Avensis Estate and was getting on well with it. I called the boys and asked if they knew of anything going cheap. They came up with a great car that needed a bit of work for MOT – just about perfect, if you ask me.

It was a Nissan Primera 2.0 Estate on an S-plate with 93,000 miles on the clock and a service history that included the attentions of PC’S very own John Simpson. It belonged to Harry and June Salmon and they had owned it for many, many years so it had been well-loved. I parted with £300 for the car, which is now called Scarlet (for obvious reasons), and dropped it at the PC workshop for the boys to play with. A service, some bodywork and a thorough ‘going over’ later and she is ready to go. Danny tells me that this 2-litre engine has a timing chain – not a belt – so it won’t need that changing, plus that the rear suspension has a Watts linkage, so it goes round corners well.

All I know is that it is great to drive, is unlikely to let me down, has bags of character and is so practical. What’s not to love.

THE VERDICT

The best value car I have ever owned. Fast, comfy, practical. And £300 – plus £100 for bits and an MOT. Unbeatable.