I mentioned that my plan for getting myself an electric car was: go to a big car dealer in England soon after my trip to the Netherlands, and then just buy the EV they have that I like most. It sounded like such a simple plan!
I had already phoned them; they said you could reserve a car, and book a test drive, but only one. It is a long drive, and it seems stupid you can't just drive a few. If you can drive only one, then why would you even? You might as well just buy a car from a distance. Who would make a 5 hour round trip more than once to decide between a few possible cars?
The good news is, of course, that Neil would come with me, so he could book a test drive as well. And then I could at least make a two car shortlist, and then just choose the best one.
With that plan I phoned them. I had already started a spreadsheet with interesting cars before I went to my trip; I had identified six. When I came back, two of these had been sold, and nothing had taken their place. And with only four left it shouldn't be too difficult to make a two-car shortlist. But when I phoned them, they said that the two cars I was most interested in were not available for test driving. They said they had to undergo some technical tests. I thought that was a bit annoying. Can't they mention that on the website? It is all very well to have all these cars on that site, but if you don't know which ones are actually available, that's of limited use. They said you can go in and switch the engine on, but I do think that there is value in actually driving around. Without that, you might (again) as well buy them from a distance. And then you still want to know which ones are actually available.
They took my details and the license plates of the cars I had hoped to test drive. They say they will let me know when they might be available. It could be weeks! By then, term has kicked off. Very inconvenient. I hope this will work out. Oh and at least, I got the money back I plaid for the Nissan Leaf…
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