My dad once drove from London to Sydney. Obviously he didn’t just wake up one morning and decide he wanted to see the Opera House up close, it took months if not a year of planning. He did it with friends and in his 1950s Jaguar XK140. The drive took three months and, not content with putting his feet up and saying he had done that, he then set about planning a drive from Panama to Alaska; one across the US; and one through five countries in Asia including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. At the time of writing this, my parents are now half way through a fortnight’s tour of Ireland in the same car.
Suffice to say then that having fun in a car is very much in my blood. If you have followed me for a while you will know that I have a nippy little bright red convertible Mini and we love nothing more than heading off on an adventure in it. I can’t quite claim to have driven to Sydney in it but we did once go to France for an hour and a half, and have done a lot of trips to the beach for chips and a cuppa.
Which is exactly what we did recently when Motorpoint asked if I would challenge them to find me a new car that would show off just how easy it is to buy a nearly new car with them. They assured me that there is always absolutely no pressure, it is hassle free and there are flexible finance options. Plus there is a 14 day money back guarantee and a price promise that they will not be beaten on price. Not only could we head down to their recently opened showroom in Portsmouth to see over 80 cars in stock, we could also browse online too. If there is a car for sale on one of their other sites it can be brought to your nearest showroom in just a couple of days.
When I bought my Mini it was a bit of a middle life wobble moment. No more school runs after over a decade, no more hockey kits, a week’s worth of laundry from boarding school or three children strapped in for every trip. At that point all three of my children could drive, and had their own cars, so I wanted a car that was fun to drive, comfortable, and yet small enough for me to able to manoeuvre and park. It has been perfect for the past four years but when I bought it, I didn’t envisage having to wrangle a two year old into the back. Trust me, whilst a car seat fits, it is not easy trying to coerce a fidgeting small person past a folded front seat into a car seat, doing them up securely and getting your head out again. At 52 my back is starting to complain. I could do without a regular reminder I am getting old, when in my head I am still 26!
Motorpoint, therefore, said they would help me find something that was still fun to drive, was easy for me to park, and had ample room in it for a car seat and the bits and pieces you need to have an adventure, or a day on the beach eating chips.
Challenge accepted
We arrived and were instantly greeted by a very smiley chap who asked if he could help, and did we want a cup of tea. Ticks in all my “this makes me happy” boxes so far, and really not the norm in my experience of buying a car. I guess the #MotorpointExperience is indeed a very different one! The showroom was vast, so there’s plenty of room to move around with families and there are even games on the tables to keep younger ones happy.
I was shown the car that they felt ticked all my requisite boxes and because you can drive the car away the day you buy it (no coming back four days later with Motorpoint you really can pay for it, arrange your insurance and drive away) it was taxed, spotlessly clean, had gone through all its checks and was ready for me to take it on an extended test drive.
We were talked through the cars controls, where things were and how it is easy it was to drive, and crucially for me, park. And with that we were waved off for a couple of hours (slightly longer than a test drive would normally be) so we headed to the beach.
The car was a doddle to park, had ample room in the back for our picnic, blankets, beach balls and more and was a dream to drive. Plus, getting Lily in the car seat took two seconds and didn’t result in me hanging out of the door for any longer than was necessary.
The whole experience was fantastic and showed me that Motorpoint have clearly done their research when it comes to how customers want to buy a car. We don’t want to be hassled, pressured and sold to. We want to start off with a cuppa and be able to drive off in our new dream car.
Please note: This is a paid collaboration and I test drove this car as part of the collaboration. If you’re in the market for a car head over to their website or go into your local store and have a browse.
Motorpoint Portsmouth 468 London Road Hilsea PO2 9RN
Visit the Motorpoint Portsmouth website here
