When I finally (just in time) got a job in Austria, I didn’t have much time to buy a car. Though with a 45 minute commute to contend with, it was a necessary evil.
Thomas doesn’t like car shopping, and I’m not much help. To me, it’s a car – I want to be able to drive it without breaking down and I want to listen to music… if it was a cool colour that would be ok, too. But that’s it. We checked out a few cars and found some models I liked (in truth, I would have been happy with any of them… I just wanted a good deal) and I ended up with a Ford Focus. I’ve never been a Ford girl, but it was the best one we found. And here’s why:
He’s got seat heating
Oh, yeah, I get in and 20 seconds later my bum and back are warm. This is especially nice when its -4 outside at 6am but mostly I use it to warm my hands by sitting on them!
He’s practically brand new
I know it’s a cliché, but this one really was only a year old and driven irregularly by an old guy. With only 9000km on the clock, I basically have a brand new car without the high price tag.
This is good for winter
New car, new tyres… so I’m set… I’m the most confident I can be about my car’s capabilities now that I have to contend with snow on my drive to work. And I will do anything to be more confident about driving on snow.
The USB plug
Gone are the days of making MP3 CDs or even plugging in my iPod. Now I transfer my extensive music library in folders onto a USB stick, stick it in, and I have hours and hours of music at my disposal. I know I’m slow coming to this, but better late than never!
He talks to my phone
Creepy, yes, but on the plus side I can’t leave it behind because my car will tell me it’s missing. I can also answer a call by pressing a button on the steering wheel, have it read a text message aloud and play music off it.
So I’m pretty happy with my new purchase… his name is officially Ralph but we have lovingly given him the nickname of ‘Snow Tiger’ and over winter… well he did alright!
an aussie in austria 