Choices

Introduction

This is a story about two cars, but there is a point to it at the end.

While I’m talking about the various different cars, it’s more a story of trying new things and decision-making.

Best Intentions

To begin, I should say that I try to be as environmentally friendly as I can be. I recycle as much as I can. Compared to a lot of people I am fanatical about doing the right thing for the planet.

I learned to drive in a manual car, and until a few years ago I’d always driven diesel cars that were manual. While I was happy driving a manual, I was also becoming uncomfortable that I was driving a diesel when most of my journeys were short trips across the city.

At one point my partner wanted to learn to drive, but she took a few manual lessons then decided to learn in an automatic. So, we bought a little red automatic Aygo that used petrol and was very cheap. Test-driving the Aygo it was immediately apparent why it was cheap, the gearbox worked but starting off from cold it would shudder and act strangely. It seemed quite bad, but it was a lot cheaper than anything else we’d seen, and maybe it could be fixed. We bought the Aygo and eventually sold the old diesel.

On the one hand, the new little petrol hatchback was great…

• Cheap to fill up, maintain, insure, and tax.
• Petrol - better for people’s lungs in the city.
• Easy to park.
• Reliable - no matter what happens you’ll be able to drive home.

However, also…

• Some kind of issue with the gearbox or ECU.
• Tiny boot.
• Not fashionable.
• Not good for motorways.

I liked driving a car that was relatively good for air quality and the atmosphere, it felt like I was being environmentally friendly. But it also felt like it was broken, journeys felt quite dangerous at times. And we frequently ran out of space when shopping.

We could ultimately live with the boot being too small, folding a rear seat down was generally enough. The thing that was getting hard to live with was the gearbox problem.

Because it was a robotic automatic gearbox nobody I’d contacted wanted anything to do with it. I couldn’t get it serviced, nothing. The only people who I was able to take it to would’ve been the main dealer. I paid them to take a look at it and give me a quote to fix it. The guy drove it and thought it may have been a software problem so replacing the computer may have fixed it. But, the quote was more than it’d cost to buy another car, and once the work was done there was no guarantee it’d be any better. And, to be honest, it didn’t affect the MOT, maybe there was nothing wrong with it.

New Car

I made the decision to get another car, and my partner was adamant that this next one be automatic too. I looked at various different kinds of cars and test drove a few. Eventually, we saw something we both liked, I looked up reviews online, we got the old car cleaned and ready to trade in then we went to look at it. It had been well looked after, clean MOTs for the past few years, well maintained before then. Drove nicely, bigger boot, petrol, automatic… and a much sportier car.

For the amount of money I wanted to spend it was about as good as I could get. We traded the old car in, and I was very happy with the new car. For the first time ever, I had a car that looked pretty good.

I took it to get it looked at by a mechanic before doing too much driving in it, and we did a couple of jobs that needed doing, but it was basically ok.

Was it good for the environment?

Having been recording the miles per gallon (MPG) of the previous two cars, I wrote an app that allowed me to compare the MPG of all three cars. There was no surprise that the sporty new car was lower than the broken Aygo, or the previous diesel hatchback, but it wasn’t that bad. But it was still worse for the environment than the previous cars I’d had.

So comparing the Aygo with the new car…

• New car feels safer to drive.
• New car more powerful, better/safer on motorways.
• New car has a bigger boot, better for shopping trips.
• New car makes me happier.
• New car is slightly worse for the environment.
• New car was more expensive in many ways.

However, the thing that happened that I hadn’t been expecting was the psychological effect having a better car would have. With the badge appeal, nice interior, bright colour and good looks, I felt better about myself driving it. But, I also noticed that other people seemed to react differently to me. Other drivers seemed a lot friendlier and more respectful on the road. And, people generally seemed to like it in ways I hadn’t imagined.

So, while I feel like I’ve gone backwards in my desire to be good to the planet, and it’s more expensive to run, the benefits are that I’m generally happier in myself.

The Reality of the Situation

We bought the small automatic hatchback because we thought it was a good car to learn to drive in. But, then we realised that we didn’t need two cars with only one of us driving, so we used it as our main/only car and sold the other one. It seemed to tick all the boxes. I thought that I’d feel great about myself driving something I thought would be environmentally friendly. But, as I drove it more, with the issues it had, I began to dread getting into it. The MPG wasn’t as good as I was expecting. And, I believe driving it may have had a detrimental effect on my mental health, or at the least, it didn’t improve my mood.

I’d have liked to have bought a hybrid or an EV, but even the ex-taxis with 200k miles or more were a bit expensive for us. Ultimately, buying the sporty car we did is keeping another old car on the roads is how I’m justifying it to myself at the moment. Re-using is better than recycling.

Conclusion

Now, getting to the point.

Buying the car we did was probably a mistake. I don’t know if it was technically broken or not, but it didn’t feel safe to drive. We made the decision to buy it, and we drove it quite a lot. Without being hasty at all we came to the decision that it wasn’t for us, so we tried something else unlike anything we’d had before. It turned out to be much better and more suited to our lives. It’s slightly more money, but the mental health benefits and the feeling of safety are probably worth the extra money.

It’s good to try new things. I’m glad I at least tried driving these different cars. Without going with what my partner wanted I might not have been allowed to buy something I liked. And now, we’ve experienced some different types of vehicles, and we’ll be better at choosing the right car for us next time.

It was only by making a decision and trying something new that we realised our priorities weren’t what we thought they were.

It’s a little bit like with work. If you don’t try something you’ll never know. You use the best information you have at the time and make a considered choice. But, if that choice turns out to be the wrong decision, after giving it enough time, choose a different path. Make a pivot.

Sometimes keeping the status quo might be the best thing to do. I’m not saying that people should make rash or risky decisions. But, at the same time, stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something different can sometimes be beneficial.

By trying something new you’ve gained valuable experience. And, the next decisions will be made with that experience. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the future decisions will be any good, but you’re equipping yourself with the knowledge that will assist you in making them.