Dilemma

I've been thinking for a couple of months about how good it would be to have a newer, more practical car to take the grandkids out and/or the dogs out, etc. Maybe taking the grandkids camping, etc.
Obviously it's awkward to do this with the Coupe and having no money to buy another car has put me off, but no harm in thinking about it.

I bought my first Coupe the year my first grandson was born They've been to car shows, etc with me and a Coupe is the only car they've ever known me to have, as I've had one for 14 years!

If I had the money, I often think I would like to replace the Coupe with an Alfa GT

Anyway, I saw my brother on Sunday and he said he's buying his girlfriends sisters Fiesta ST from her as it's a low mileage, good example, at a good price and would I be interested in his car, which he would sell to me really cheap (my Mum has already offered to lend me the money if I want it). I think he'll let me have it for £1500 or less. I didn't ask and never took him up on his test drive offer as I was horrified at myself for even thinking about it

Only trouble is, it's a Citroen C3 Picasso! It's a 1.4 petrol, 70K on the clock and 59 plate. It's a very practical car and would be ideal, but.....

My head is saying yes, but my heart is saying no!

I KNOW I would regret getting rid of the Coupe, but I know the time will come sooner, rather than later. It needs a few things doing to it now, such as a service, track rod end and a wheel bearing. The laquer peel is horrendous (although I'm happy to live with that as long as the car stays reliable) it needs a cambelt change next year and possibly welding (my MOT tester said it was going down the same road as my other Coupe ) amongst other small things that need sorting.

The main things putting me off the Citroen is the lack of power (94bhp, compared to 220+) and the colour - it's Lime Green lol

I'm at the point where I'm hoping I have an accident, to make my decision for me!

I still love the Coupe and it's always been my everyday car, so to not have one in my life would be very hard, but that time will come eventually anyway

I know what most of you will say, but I'm trying justify things I think, especially when the car offered will be cheap, newer and more practical.

I still have my old Coupe on the drive as I don't want to part with that neither lol

Head or Heart? I think I already know what my decision is, but thought I'd ask anyway.

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Theresa, you will regret it further down the line. In saying that, I understand where you’re coming from. Your choice at the end of the day, and if I’m honest under the present situation things have changed for ever, so what ever you choose no one could blame you. I’ve made choices myself and so has my wife, but that’s a different story. Good luck Theresa what ever you choose.

Jim.

Oh heck, head vs heart.
When I ran my Vis I also had a petrol Scenic. Gutless as you like but hellish useful for furniture moving and full on family holidays.
At least you’ve had a Coupé, and for years.
You’ll miss the power, shape, smell and sound of it.
But nows the time to sell if you need the versatility of a wheeled shed and money is tight.
You’ll save on fuel with the C3 too.
But what about a Multipla and keeping it Fiat, or a Honda Frv 1.7 petrol for reliability.
Sorry T, but advising with my head whilst my heart aches for you.

Another thing to consider,

With the numbers of coupes dwindling year by year, you have to factor in that if you do change your mind, there is no guarantee that you will find one again if you wanted another one.

And I can't see Joe making another Coupe van!

Whatever you decide, 14 years is a LONG time to own a car. Its not a coupe, Its part of the family - with your grandsons knowing its yours.

Regards

MM

T. There is life after the coupe ownership. But the want never goes away. Many are lucky to be able to hold on to a coupe as a spare car etc.
I realise that's probably not a choice for you.
Grandchildren are more important along with you getting to work safely. It's a no brainer really girl.
The very best of luck with it all.

Well, after appreciating the Coupe even more this week and how much I don't want to make a decision to part with it, the decision has been made for me

My brother has got his new car earlier than expected and apparently, he was going to sell me the Citroen for £1,000, but as I hadn't got back to him and he needed rid, I think he's sold it to 'we buy any car.com' for £1,100.

Looks like I'll have the Coupe a while longer

I don't know if that is good news or not really Theresa, but great to know you'll still be driving around in a Coupe.

That is great news T.

I think the Coupe is very roomy and practical for it's type. The boot is pretty impressive too. So I don't often have to worry about heart vs head as they are both in agreement!

Cue piston flying through the bonnet.

I love the Coupe so much and it's been brilliant for room and practicality over the years. I use it everyday, it does skip runs, moves furniture, shopping etc

The main annoyance is if I take my daughter and the 3 grandkids out, my daughter has to sit in the middle rear without a seatbelt on.

It was only because the offer of a cheap, practical car, like the Citroen came up that I was really trying to weigh up what to do for the best, but knew deep down I would regret it if I got rid of the Coupe.

If the decision was made for me, such as a piston flying through the bonnet then it would have been easy, but to choose to get rid of the Coupe was a very hard decision to try and make

I've had quite a bit of overtime this month, so I think I might treat the Coupe when I get paid in September and have some jobs done on it

I was in a very similar situation - even down to the aspect of fancying an Alfa GT as the alternative car.

So, I fired up the man maths calculator and did some working out. With the mileage I was doing, I figured that the cost of owning the Coupe AND the GT would be no more that owning the Coupe on its own.

That was in 2013 and I still have both cars

Using the Coupe as a weekend car will keep it running fine, but the fuel costs will plummet and you’ll be able to drop the insurance to classic cover (I pay £450 a year insurance for the Coupe, GT AND the Westfield)

Do you want to borrow my calculator?

Haha, cheers Nigel I haven't really got the room for two running cars

My old Coupe is tucked away on the drive, so would have room if I got rid of that, but it's a bit awkward to keep swapping cars over and used to do it years ago when I had the Coupe and a Fiesta.

Needless to say, the Fiesta hardly got driven in the end as it was a pain to keep swapping the cars over.

I don't do enough mileage neither, only about 5,000 a year, back and forth to work, shopping and the odd day out.

I'll stick with the Coupe for now

How Theresa felt when she was trying to justify any decision to replace the Coop for the sake of her grandkids: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RybNI0KB1bg


How Theresa felt when she found out she no longer had to make that decision: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UMEQ7TYgXqE

There is life after coupe ownership.
There are also much easer cars as tools to live with day by day.

The choice was taken out of your hands but I'm glad you didn't go with the Citroen, anything other than a Citroen would have been fine!

I'm currently back in a 16v coupe while I try and save the Porsche and a panda from the salt roads here.

Hope your well