Surprise runabout

With the impending car change thing, I've started taking more interest in the freebie local paper. Ok, probably not much point in that because the car ads in there are all Used car and I'm looking at new. But there is the occasional story in there worth reading. This week's Wednesday paper arrived today*.

*Current paper boy waits for rain or Saturday. Dunno why but he doesn't get the job out the way when he could, plus if there's a chance to deliver while it's raining he will. He'll also leave the paper hanging half out the letterbox so it gets wet. Never did that in my day ... honest guv ! (I was a paper boy for a few years, which is where overdeveloped leg muscles came from)

Anyway - today's paper. What's of note there ?

Only a Bristol Motor Show :-) Ooo - shinies.

I hadn't been round the centre of Bristol for a while, so this would be a good excuse to combine having a look in record & games & book shops for stuff I bought already with having a look at all the various cars on the market at the moment.

Come into Cabot and what's on show : Lexus ... Toyota ... Dangerous. Lexus were closer so I got caught talking to one of their girls first. They were in Brand Uniform mode, 3 bottle blonde ladies in matching outfits. (Erm - wasn't I supposed to be looking at cars ?) Anyway - it looked good and the little lady who ended up talking to me for far longer than I thought I'd be chatting was very articulate and coped with my provoking questions quite well.

Not provoking as in "this car is rubbish" but more "why is this car better than the Prius ?" There's been a lot written about both cars and at least half of that is just plain wrong. Lexus Lady achieved something today, I've put the CT200h back as an equal to the Prius instead of it lagging behind. Seems like some of that Brand Loyalty comes from a sense of "WE LOVE OUR LEXUS" from the people who work for them.

So the odds just shifted back to 45-45-10 Lexus-Prius-Honda. Gotta say, the Lexus does look good in blue. I could have a Prius in a week with just delivery miles on it but 95% of Prius are white. Meh. White's not a bad (non)colour except when it's the only colour you see something in.

Who else was there ?

The Bristol Motor Show is being held in the open air around the fairly new Cabot Circus shopping centre in the middle of Bristol. There's not too much space in there but there's enough for the more popular models to go on show. Lexus just had their CT200h on show and to be honest, that's the only one in their range that is in reach of most.

Toyota had their Prius, Aygo and Yaris models on show. All small city cars. Only interested in the Prius of those, although their red looked good. Ford were up next, showing off their Fiesta, Ka and Focus. The current Fords still do the brand proud with tightly packaged workmanlike quality. The Fords are good with feelings of "it ain't gonna fall apart" but don't really inspire. Same with their staff, who were enjoying their day out in the fresh air.

Lexus Ladies - we're keen, we love our little car and think you will too
Ford kiddies - gosh this makes a change from being in the showroom all day

Guess which of those I'd rather buy from and it confirms the impression I got from Lincoln Lexus.

Who else ? Jaguar were the next stand and I avoided them like the Plague due to potential for the IWANT factor to take over. Jaguar make very sexy (and rather expensive) cars.

This took me to the Galleries for a little interlude of looking around the usual shops wondering if they have stuff I haven't bought yet. (Usually it's stuff that they don't sell anyway). Outside the Galleries was Mitsubishi. Shiny but way too big. Got no need for a 4x4 so I have no interest in looking at them.

Gotta say, the Alfa Giuletta looked very Shiny inside and out. Much shinier than their MiTo. The Giuletta impressed me actually, whereas the MiTo looked a bit tacky. Wouldn't have an Alfa though because the chances of getting through a warranty period without a claim on those is slim to remote to nonexistent. There's probably more chance of me bowling again than one of those staying reliable.

There were more cars on show, from people like VW and Hyundai but not that much I'm actually looking at. Nissan brought their supercar along with a few 4x4 and crossovers. Same comment as Mitusbishi. It might be shiny at what it does but that purpose is the complete opposite to what I want.

Good day out all told.

Didn't buy anything (as usual) but it got me out the house for a bit (never a bad thing). And it's got me a bit more info too, with me reminding myself what the little Lexus is actually like instead of what the car reviewer people tell me it's like.

Must ... do ... test ... drives ...