My Accidental Purchase

Have you ever been on a shopping trip and ended up buying something you really hadn't intended to buy? Come along now ladies and gents, be honest, I'm sure you have. Perhaps it was a new bag, or yet another pair of shoes that you really didn't need, but they were just so pretty, you had to give them a new home. Maybe you wandered into the Apple Store and came out with the latest iPhone. However, I'm going to hazard a guess that you haven't done as I did, because I made quite a spectacular accidental purchase.

It all began a few months ago. My girls are growing, and not just a bit, Miss. D is now towering over me (not difficult I know) and is wearing jeans with an inside leg just an inch shorter than that of her father (who is almost 6' 5"). Please someone tell me she will stop growing soon, otherwise we're going to need to find some specialist shops prompto! Miss. L is still quite petite, but also has rather long legs (thankfully, not as long as her sister's). Anyway, this long leg thing was beginning to cause a bit of a problem. So off I went to solve it...

 ...but not in the way you may suppose. Did I head off to the nearest shopping centre to purchase longer jeans? No, why would I, I'd already gone down that road. Nope, I headed off to a car dealership; as you do.

Let me explain. Some years ago, I traded in my Mum Bus (AKA my Zafira) for a more economical Agila. At the time the girls were still quite small, but since they were both at school, we no longer needed the amount of space we had done previously when we had to cart around an entire second wardrobe, snacks, pushchairs and a shed load of nappies, wipes, toys and books. Let's not forget those running costs either, which quite frankly were getting a little ridiculous. The little car was perfect for the three of us. It was cheap to run, only cost £30.00 a year to tax and had plenty of room. Okay so the boot was a little on the small side, but it sufficed. However, as the girls have grown, little car was becoming just a bit too cramped for long legs. Hence my trip to the dealership.

I browsed online for quite sometime before finding a lovely 1 year old car with only 3000 miles on the clock and very nice it was too. Nice enough to go and have a little look. I called ahead to ensure the car I wanted to 'look' at (note the words 'look at') would be available as I was informed it was being used as a courtesy car. When I was advised that yes it was, I headed out for a visit and a test drive. However, upon my arrival, the car was no longer free. All was not lost as I could test drive another car, same model, but better spec (ooh, listen to me, I sound like I know what I'm talking about). It was rather lovely to drive, I must say, so off we went back to the desk and before I knew it, I'd talked myself (yes I did, not the dealer) into buying a brand new car, as you do. Seriously, do not let me near a prestige car dealership, who knows what I might leave with.

Thankfully, it was not a prestige dealership and much as I adore those beautiful expensive cars, when it comes to my own, I just want something simple that will get me from A to B and not cost a fortune to run. Hence, my visit was to a Renault/Kia dealership and what I left with was a car (or rather an order for a car) that was just the right size for growing girls and a Little Orange Dog. Oh and it wasn't a Renault or Kia I left with, but a Dacia. I was a little sceptical about these, but having done my research and spoken to owners (all of whom were very enthusiastic about their cars) I felt very much reassured and having driven around for a few days now I am really pleased.

The girls were really sad to say goodbye to our little blue car, but it's fair to say that they have well and truly fallen in love with Katie (yes they have named the car Katie, I'm not sure why). Max has yet to meet her, I am trying to keep her orange hair free for as long as possible, although let's not forget that fabulous seat cover I have, which will be used soon.

So next time you make an accidental purchase and your other half is moaning at you about it, feel free to use me as a scapegoat...unless you purchased a prestige car, or a house, or something else ridiculously huge; even I've not managed to do that...yet.