Shinies coming ...

Finally did it, ended the months of procrastination by heading on up the motorway to Lexus in Cheltenham.

Don't get me wrong there - inaction can sometimes be the best form of action. Half the tech world points and sniggers at the early adopters who :

Can never resist going for the latest shiny,
Spend way too much on their toys,
Never really get much benefit from that latest little incremental upgrade,
Get stuck with something that gets replaced with a far better spec after 6 months
And they get all the bugs.

Sitting back and waiting lets you see whether that Day 0 Shiny is actually worth getting or is going to be a total nightmare. Happily the Lexus has just had good things written about it from the owners (the german car obsessed reviewers weren't keen) over the 6 months it's been on the market.

I also had the luxury of time this time around. Most of my previous cars have either been run into the ground or were getting more and more expensive. There were bills coming for the Focus but they were maintenance things (brake discs), items that wear out eventually. However, it's done 66,000 miles now, which is the point at which the Puma started getting really expensive.

It's cost a bit more than I'd have liked to pay (less reduction + less than expected for mine) but I'm expecting cost/mile to end up a lot less. Maybe not for the next 3 years while I'm paying but definitely for the time after that. I also get it next week instead of having to wait until December for a new one, which would also cost me cash to tax the Focus for a bit longer.

So what have I gone for ? Quick trip up the motorway to Cheltenham saw me arrive at the Lexus place there. Waiting was a blue Lexus CT (linky) which I'll be heading back to pick up next week. There will be a few changes :

It's an automatic - I've driven two but not owned any of these before but thankfully the Gearbox Brain of this one is fairly in tune with what I like
No long wave on the radio ! GAHHH!!!! That's where cricket commentary lives !!! However. I have a cunning plan. It involves a phone, mobile internet, BBC radio streaming and a bluetooth connection to the car stereo. Curious to see how that works.
Bluetooth hook up for the phone, which means it can go Hands Free. Dunno how long that will last considering the vulnerabilities of Bluetooth and the battery munching.
Byebye IpodFM - there's a direct link in the car. No more losing the signal in the middle of a favourite song.

Hybrid powertrain. This is actually fairly irrelevant from the driver's point of view. Press throttle - car speeds up. Press brake - car slows down. There's a lot of complicated stuff going on under the skin but the driver doesn't need to pay attention to any of that. Apart from maybe hitting "Sport Mode" occasionally :-)

Built in satnav. This isn't normally the sort of thing you'd look for in a car, as a Tomtom is much cheaper and can be programmed while you're not in the car. This is more Trip Computer not just on steroids but with an overdose of them, coupled with a better stereo. It just happens to come with a satnav.

It's a big step up in value from what I've been driving lately, bit slower but far better inside.

Already looking forward to picking it up next week.