SHE SAYS . ..

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32351, 17 July 1970, Page 17

SHE SAYS . ..

“Family car” means different things to different families, and as it has been pointed out to me, it is interesting to observe that the large six - cylinder “family car” of not many years ago cost £lOOO, or less, whereas the “£lOOO car” today is a small, two-door four-seater which . many families would find much too cramped. Yet many young people with growing families of three or more want and need a spacious vehicle. They often want a stationwaggon, and the cost and availability of new vehicles

make it inevitable that they must look for one in the second-hand market.

From looking at advertisements, it seems to me that it is almost exclusively Continental manufacturers who cater for large families: two French manufacturers, for instance, offer station-waggons with seating for eight or nine. The answer to many families’ dreams: but in New Zealand such vehicles are both exceedingly rare and prohibitively expensive. So for many large families, it is a case of searching the second-hand columns and car-yards for a used station-waggon or mini-bus. But remember that a station-waggon has no boot, and if your husband carries a lot of bits and pieces in the boot of the car, or you both take a lot of luggage on trips, all this will have to go behind the rear seat So you will still be left with the same amount of seating as in an ordinary car. If you think a stationwaggon will be the complete answer to your problems, then you may be overoptimistic. But much of that luggage, of course, could be carried on a roofrack.

One good suggestion I have heard is this: spend a Saturday touring the city’s car-yards, looking at all the vehicles you can, and getting a good idea of prices. While you are doing this, you are quite likely to spot a vehicle that you would not ordinarily have thought of, but which will do just the job you want And if the vehicle you see would be ideal for everyday use, but too small for your' annual holiday, why not consider hiring a larger vehicle for holidays? Check the cost of this, and you may find it would be cheaper to hire once a year than to buy an unnecessarily large and expensive vehicle for year-round use.