Toy Time - Being Car(bon) Neutral

As of last week, we are now a zero-car household. Being in London, there is just no practical need to have a car, let alone two! The Tube, for all the criticism levelled at it (crowded, tiring, at times unreliable) is still an absolutely amazing network that gets the job done. And we haven't even scratched the surface of the bus system.

Gertie the Golf was sold very quickly to a family friend while we were living with Johnny's Granny in Kent. For £300 - exactly the same as she was bought for! In fact, thanks to an insurance cashback deal and a refund on cancellation, she actually made £7! John will retain very fond memories of that car; puny engine, vague steering and weak brakes included. When a car's abilities are very limited, even the tamest English country road becomes a driving challenge, which Johnny loves. Bec only drove her once, which was apparently quite enough - her memories are not so fond.

Beatrice the BMW was more challenging to sell, as we were wanting ten times as much for her. With Bec's extended daily commute and several lengthy road-trips, her mileage was high and although she was still fabulous to drive, she'd had some technical problems - all fixed of course. A stint on eBay was unsuccessful, but at long last a classified ad on AutoTrader got the desired result.

The moral of the story would seem to be "buy cheap, sell cheap", but Gertie was an incredibly lucky find, and would have been horrible to take to France, Scotland, and all over England as we delighted in doing with Bea. She really was Sheer Driving Pleasure. We'll miss her.