On Saturday night we held our first dinner party at our new house in Nannup and I can report that it was a very enjoyable experience. We entertained the neighbours from number 65 (next door – a 150m walk if you climb the fence, 500m if you visit via driveways). Although there were lots of things which you take for granted will just be there in the drawer where you expect them to be (improvisation needed when not) we got through without too much difficulty. Eventually we will have a duplicate set of everything but for the moment we will have to make do bringing things from Shelduck.
We knew back in 2016 when we first got to know Paul and Emma that they would become good friends and it’s such a comfort knowing they are keeping an eye on our property when we aren’t there. Bella also seems to get on ok with their dog which is a bonus. It’s nice to finally be able to return the hospitality that they have shown us over the last two years.
On a completely different subject, I’ve never been one to make New Years resolutions but this year i have made one very big one and I’ve actually started already making the changes. My resolution is to rid myself of anything which brings me frustration and the Amarok is one of them. As my business has expanded over the last six months it just isn’t doing the job anymore and thus is the first thing to be replaced. Having a Ute is great for many things but even a dual cab doesn’t have enough room inside to securely house all of my necessary tools and in reality I only use the tray occasionally and have a very good trailer which will get some TLC and become a regular part of my day to day life. I’ve loved having the Amarok, it certainly drives the best of any Ute on the road but it simply doesn’t work for my business so it will be going as soon as I can find the time to detail it and get it on Carsales.com
Finding a car to do the job was much easier than I expected and for that matter cheaper too. I’ve spent some time looking at Ute based wagons recently for some very good friends who are looking to buy one later this year so I already had in mind a couple of strong contenders but in the end went with my first inclination and have bought a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. I don’t have any need for seven seats or leather trim so the GLX fits the bill perfectly and our experience doing the transaction couldn’t have been easier.
My usual starting place when buying or selling a car is Carsales.com to find out what sort of deals and offers are out there and was not disappointed. It was the end of the month, the end of the year and every manufacturer is hell bent on selling every possible car they can to make their figures look as good as possible or in many cases to reduce the deficit from last year and Mitsubishi who are on a high at the moment didn’t disappoint. There was a demo car advertised at a very attractive price in Perth so I sent an online enquiry. I got the customary email response from the sales manager within five minutes saying that someone would be in touch shortly as was the case. A salesman called me and proceeded to tell me that the text attached to the advert was wrong and that this particular car didn’t qualify for any of the current offers so it wasn’t such a good deal after all. I thanked him for his time and said i would leave it. Some seven or eight days later the car was still for sale so I enquired again. The same happened so I decided to leave it until after new year to see what the offers are then but decided to call Busselton Mitsubishi just to see if they had one in stock as I hadn’t actually driven one. Both Denise and I have had previous dealings with Josh, one of the sales staff so I asked to speak to him. I knew it was going to be a bit complicated as the last time I dealt with him I was Robin but after a short explanation all was good and a time was arranged later that day.
When we arrived at the dealership I could see a car ready for testdriving and went into the showroom where Josh was waiting for us. I got a lovely hug from him which was a bonus and after a short exchange we headed for the car. Josh knows my history so didn’t waste too much time with the instructions and we were off. I immediately liked the feel of the car and the roominess inside it, the drive didn’t disappoint either. Denise had a drive too to make sure she could get comfortable and after a good long drive we arrived back at the dealership. Josh explained the various offers and gave us a drive away price. It was more than we wanted to pay but after a little negotiating we arrived at a price and the deal was done. All in all a very enjoyable experience. I loved the way everything was transparent, he talked about the various offers, benefits and features in a way which was straight forward and understandable. He asked when we would like to take delivery and the following day was agreed. The car was ready on time, we did the necessary paperwork and after a short instruction on the controls were on our way. A huge thanks to Josh and David for a great experience, when David came out to thank us after approving the deal I mentioned that I’d made a few changes since we last met and his comments that I looked really good and that the changes suited me are all I need to hear!