As much as I liked it for it's cool and groovy, rugged, adventurous looks and practical nature when it comes to our outdoorsy activities, it really wasn't the best car for us.
2 reasons mainly...
1. It was incredibly slow.
Now I'm not such a speed demon in my old age ;-) but I do like to know that if there is a tractor chugging along the main road I have enough cahoonas to overtake, and to time it from 0-60 you certainly didn't need a stop watch...more like a calendar!!!!
2. It was like a teabag.
No, it didn't stain your clothes when you sat on it...(hmm well, actually it was so muddy inside that it did if you weren't already muddy)but it was prone to a little leakage when it rained!!
Now this wasn't just our one that was like this, but a general feature of Landys that age or possibly newer it seems. Rob has been in a couple of newer ones recently and they all seem to be keen on dripping on you from the windows as you go round a corner, and none of them are particularly speedy on acceleration or top end. They were designed for over mud, lumps and bumps and for pulling or carrying heavy loads...and that is what they do best!!
So for a family outing to a National trust house or similar, it really wasn't the best thing!!! You'd turn up slightly damp and muddy when you had definitely made an effort to put on clean clothes before you left and made you feel under dressed for the matter in hand.
So, was I sorry to see it go? YES but no, if you know what I mean!!! I am a car person and despite my moans about it, I did enjoy driving it around. I felt cool!! I had loads of friends!! (Most Landy drivers flash their lights or put their hand up to you when passsing on the road...it felt odd to start with , but now I miss them!)
So we have got another vehicle. I say vehicle, because I don't really know what to call it. It is neither car, despite it having comfy seats, nor van even though it says vanette on the back. It is certainly not an off road vehicle despite it saying 4Wd on the side and it certainly NOT cool looking although Rob says it looks a little like the A Team van. It is cool in its own right though, as it has a single sliding door for access to the 4 very large and roomy rear seats. 2 of the seats can be swivelled round when it is stationary to make a seating area that you could put a table up in, and the other 2 rear seats can be folded right up out of the way to make a massive boot space!!
Oh yes, and when you open the bonnet you are confronted with a spare wheel and just a few odd engine parts!!!! The engine is not there, where you would expect to find it...it is located under the front 2 seats and is accessed via a hatch inside the car!!!!
So what is this vehicle I hear you ask? No, you probably are not that interested...sorry to go on about it, but it really is an odd one!!
It is a Nissan Serena. Never heard of it before. Never seen anything like it. Would certainly not have picked it out from a line up of MPV's but as it just seemed to kind of land in our lap, maybe fate decided we should have it.
I'll upload a picture later....it really is rather odd and worth a giggle. Or I think so anyway!
Obviously, I won't be driving it very often...I like my Passat, and my brain still works on the MPV/minibus/school trip scenario thread and I hate feeling like sardines!!!!
Maybe some decals on the side would help?
THIS IS NOT A SCHOOL BUS
MY OTHER CAR IS A LANDY (not strictly speaking true, I know)
FREE RANGE CHILDREN ON BOARD
THE WORLD IS OUR PLAYGROUND
Any other suggestions?!!!
Here they are as a kind of comparison....hmm now which one would you choose?!!
4 comments:
Well I think your new car looks much cooler and sounds much more practical than our people carrier, a Mitsubishi Chariot (the name makes me want to fix spikes to the hub caps in sort of Ben Hur style, but it's definitely NOT that sort of car). Driving our car is like herding a lazy hippo out of a river bed; the number of times I've been hooted as I try and pull out at a roundabout to find the car pootle pootle pootle sluggishly into the oncoming hurtling traffic, leaving everything behind us in a fog of black smoke...But it is an automatic, it has passed 2 - YES 2!! - MOTs without trouble, we do all fit in it (just) and it does have the simplicity of being like driving a huge go-kart. BUT (big BUT) it is a lot less cool.
LOL!!!!!
Rob has nick namedours the Moon Buggy and is now calling all the boys Space cadets!!!!
We used to have aMitsubishi Space wagon which LOOKED really cool and very 4 wheel drivish....but I loathed it. It had several levers that were supposed to control the back seat positions to fold, down, move forward and let the rear passengers in...BUT the levers never seemed to do the smae thing more than once. I got it totally wriong once and the seat sprang back, smacking mein the head and nearly knocking me out the road!!! I think that is why I have a loathing for Japanese cars and MPV's.....oops!!!
Nissan Serena..lol
Yes, I think ours might be the import version of the Space Wagon. I haven't bothered with the levers - I just get the kids to clamber over each other to get in!I think calling it a 7-seater goes against the Trade Description Act though (unless it's Snow White's bunch minus one dwarf): definitely no room for 7 adult lardy bums...
We had an Espace when I was a kid and it was BRILL. Tons more space than a normal 7 seater... one of our (very well off) friends said it was like flying first class... lol.
Can't wait to see the new car... and the new dog!
Isn't it great now the sun is out?!
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