Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Did you test drive all those cars?

I did. Always from main dealers, just walk-in after having researched the hell out of each model in advance (so I could not be sucked into a sales process in which I was not knowledgeable). I also always lied, and said I had another test lined up later with another manufacturer... so they were unable to close a deal on the spot.

Our requirements were:

1. City friendly for Felicity (small and nimble)
   
2. Motorway friendly (nearly all of our cars journeys are to Exeter and back)
   
3. Economic (relative to the Saab which was only getting 34mpg for Diesel - so not hard to beat)
   
4. 3-door (there's only 2 of us and we never carry passengers... seems silly getting a large and more uneconomic car when we do not have that need)
   
5. Safe and visible (always-on lights for cyclists and peds, good safety standards for us, auto-dimming mirrors, etc)
   
   

On the whole, the Audis were larger cars that gave the illusion of being small but were a weird compromise of not offering the benefits of a large car and yet failing to deliver the benefits of the smaller cars. Conclusion: They'd appeal to Audi faithfuls but you were paying for the badge.

VWs, the Scirocco was nice but way over priced. Drop that by £10k and they'd have a killer car. The Golf and Polo both felt too cheap, like you'd need to option everything to make it feel nice when doing 4+ hour motorway stretches (our majority scenario). The Golf performed better, but again you had to up the spend significantly to achieve this. It also felt like both the Golf and Polo were family oriented, we didn't care for rear-seat leg-room, and I'm tall and it made the front feel more cramped for it.

The Fiat 500 was nice, but the top speed was worring. The motorways down to Exeter are fast moving, averaging 80mph to 90mph. I don't want to be stuck in the slow lane between HGVs, and do want to have the capability to overtake in emergencies. It was just too weak an engine.

The Fiat Punto we drove in Italy and almost couldn't get out of an underground garage due to the extremely steep ramp and very low torque. We ruled that out immediately.

The Alfa Romeo Mito has the same base as the Fiat Punto or Bravo, but a much better engine. We also found that nearly everything you'd want to option was included as standard. It also felt like a big car, even though it was small. Our biggest complaints about the Mito were that the brakes didn't feel sharp enough (I emergency stop in test drives), and that cornering at speed (40mph) felt a little scary when it really shouldn't. It's a fantastic city car, but I lost a little faith it would perform well on a motorway.

The Mini was actually my last choice, I've been put off by Foxtons. But the 3-door didn't feel like a compromise on the driver, started at a price that was within budget, had all of the features we wanted once optioned, and remained within budget. It also has driving modes, so you can put it into a green/economic mode in the city and drive at lower speeds with really great economy and low emissions, and then when you're on the motorway you can put it in sport mode and it basically gives you the top end to feel safe at 80-90mph with enough spare power to still let you overtake or take evasive actions. It also felt rock solid on corners, and had nice responsive braking.

Ultimately the other cars felt like they were concessions, "my first car", cheap intros into the brands of the other manufacturers and a stepping stone onto the larger cars during the sales process. The exceptions to this, the cars that felt good for their purpose were the Fiat 500 and Alfa Mito... but then both fail to convince me they would do the London-Exeter run with confidence and safety.

The Mini was the only car out of the lot that felt like it hadn't made any major compromises, that was great in the city at low speeds and high economy, and great on the motorway at speed (and to some extent, damn the fuel efficiency).

Finally, when we did go into the Mini showroom, and it was our last choice... I knew already that the Alfa Mito was #1 and that at the end of the Mini test drive I'd know which to get. I then arranged that test drive for the last day of the month, as dealers are desperate to hit quotas, I further new the options I would consider in advance so casually configured a car that I would accept... before then asking for a deal... which by this point they were dying to give as they'd just had this walk-in customer go straight to deal talking in an hour. Then... when they offered a deal, even though I really wanted it and it was within budget... I said no and was willing to go get the Alfa instead. That took another chunk of money off the price, leaving me with a lease that was well within budget.

I'd always argue for doing a deal at the end of a month or quarter, and be willing to make the deal on the day... but most importantly, be willing to walk away altogether. Whoever is willing to say no and walk away wins, and they want the sale badly at the end of a month/quarter.