Out of the blue one day last week, She Who Must Be Obeyed suggested we buy a new car.

Great idea I thought, our present vehicles are large and cumbersome, will not fit in multi story car parks, are expensive to maintain and are getting a bit long in the tooth.

Mr Brown as we call him is 31 years old and qualifies to be registered as an historic vehicle. We bought him new in 1984 and he has travelled nearly 500,000 klms. Still goes like a rocket and  never ‘fails to proceed’ as is said in Rolls Royce parlance.

Then there is Mr Green. He is a lot younger at only 13 year of age. He too has been up a few hills and is nearing 400,000 klms on the clock.

As you can see, we are not sit at home types.

So, the tyre kicking commenced almost immediately.

Of course, our two beloved Landrovers were not going to be looking for a new home. Indeed not, they are part of the fabric of life at Casa Creakingbones and thoughts of trade ins or for sale signs were never a consideration.

First, VW’s. Lovely, smart, a little quirky, reasonably priced and the two of us could fit in the front of the vehicle range with reasonable comfort.

Next we looked at the KIA range. The Cerato with all its modern electronics and gadgetry was spacious, comfortable, within our price range and the colours available were all desirable. It even has a full size spare tyre and wheel.

Then came the Mazda 3. Wow, luxuries galore, everything that opens and shuts, sharp pricing, great reputation and is the most popular small car in our little part of the world.

Not far away from the Mazda dealership is the Nissan car yard. Boy oh boy, is the Nissan Pulsar SSS a car and a half. Electronics everywhere, turbocharged petrol engine, loads of torque, spacious, great trunk for filling with groceries or picnic gear. In metallic red paint it looks like a million dollars on wheels.

Finally we took a peek at the little Suzuki Swift. Great little machine, realistic price too, you could buy a matching pair for just a tad under the cost of the top of the range models we had previously looked at.

Back at home, armed with brochures, price lists, option schedules, service costs, road side assist tables, standard and extended warranty comparison sheets, we commenced drawing up our comparison list. Regular references to reviews contained within Mr Google were also undertaken.

All done we began allocating points out of ten for relevant features in order to reach a rational conclusion about our intended purchase. Colour was not an issue as we both know that heat from the sun comes in through the car windows, not through the body work, so white or black, who cares.

Then we had a spontaneous joint eureka moment. Are we both stark raving mad? Why do we need another car?

We have two vehicles already, both pass mechanical inspection tests, are regularly serviced and  reliable. We know them backwards, they even have matching number plates and I suspect they even know their names.

Then there is the motor bike too and three bicycles. As an extra bonus, we live within easy walking distance of our town’s main street and it’s only $10.00 in a taxi if we don’t feel like walking home with the groceries.

Then there was immediate consensus over the inevitable coffee break. A new car is no longer on our acquisition list.

On Monday I’ll be on the phone to each of the friendly salesmen we met, just to let them know that we are out of the market but will keep them in mind should we embark on this exercise again in future.

The car bit out of the way, I can now begin to scheme and plot about acquiring a hot air balloon.

Hoo roo for now.