New car!

In order to dispel any rumours, I have not been bitten by a funnel-web spider, eaten by a shark, killed by a stinger or 'gone native'.... it's just been a bit of a busy week.


After hours of looking at cars online, test driving and negotiating, I am now the proud owner of a car!

It's a Honda Civic CXI, 1998 model, 1.5L 3 door, 155 000 km  (which is ok for it's age - cars go a lot further here due to the absence of cold weather) and has been regularly serviced. It was the third car I test drove - I looked at a Mitsubishi Mirage, which felt like driving a sardine tin (ok for the city but not for taking it up the coast) and an older Civic that I thought was overpriced. I bought the car from a failr vacantThai bloke who spoke very little English, which made it hard to work out whether he and the car were dodgy, he was just a bit incompetent, or it whether it was a language issue. I did a check of the car with the government database (stolen, involved in an accident, has financial liabilities) and that checked out ok, and I arranged for a mechanic to look at it. Due to the holiday weekend it was very difficult to get hold of one at short notice, but I managed to find a Lebanese mobile mechanic who checked the car over and said it was mechanically sound. It was a bizzarre meeting - me, a young Thai who could barely speak English and a large, almost too jovial Lebanese mechanic, in a multi-story car park in the centre of Chinatown. It was a job to know who was the most dodgy.

I managed to get it for $5300 (about £3000), which was a good deal less than the asking price, but given that everything checks out it seems the guy just needed a quick sale.  So, it's a great little car - it's fun to drive, is a model that will hold its value, and it should run and run. I had it registered this morning and set up my E-Tag (for the tunnels/Harbour Bridge) so it's all sorted. 

I also had to buy a new suit this week (thank goodness for the January sales) which is at the tailor's being altered, so I'm pretty much set for school now, but for some preparation work to do today. Only 10 days till I get paid... which can't come too soon as I'm almost totally broke.


I had a good time on Australia Day (yesterday) and will post some photos on the blog a bit later.....