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And now for something completely different

 So our youngest son just bought a rather exotic car, I will not name the brand, it's not young about 12 years old, and it was not too expensive.   It is also a hybrid, you can drive about 50 miles on the batteries, and then the engine kicks in.   Our son paid somewhere around 12,000 pounds.

When it was on, I was an occasional fan of Top Gear, and I remember how the three hosts were gushing about this car.   Honestly, I owned cars in 2012, and this particular car compared poorly against an average BMW or my wife's Mercedes.   Now I get the rarety angle, I understand the attraction of having one of 550 of the type in the UK, but the damn thing should still be good, even if it was a very expensive car then.   The ride is just ok, for a "sports car" it handles like an underpowered Ford, the controls are non-intuitive, and were at best "working with some prodding".  Worse yet the electric system needs an occasional re-set, like an old desktop computer.

Now. all three of Top Gear's presenters also had an unhealthy love for Alpha Romeo which is probably the world's most unreliable car, still you have to wonder about all these car shows, that praise certain vehicles, and you then discover that as an ordinary user that they are simply awful.   

My immediate neighbour just bought a G-Wagon, on spec, it compares well with my 40-year-old Land Rover, but it just doesn't deliver the goods.   Too heavy, too luxurious and too damm expensive to take seriously off-road on the farm.   He called me because he got stuck, and my Land Rover could easily pull him out.   

I am an "old goat" as my wife often says and she is right, still, if you buy an expensive hammer, you still expect the thing to get the nails in.   Back to my son's new to him car.  He is still very keen on the thing, it's good that the heated seats work, but the aircon doesn't function and the inbuilt diagnostic tools do not function at all.   He is happy...I bought him an AA membership.  He is certain to need the occasional tow!


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