Took a forty minute spin north with the 'Wheelgirl' to collect a Chilli Red MINI Cooper Chilli - someone in BMW MINI marketing got a bit carried away by the word Chilli when they were launching that model range. Especially as Chilli means 'Hot' and not that it has Air Conditioning, which incidentally is not standard on a Cooper. On arrival a nice car, as described and pretty much OK. Checked the service history and it's a German import - the German PDI giving it away where the Experian Gold Check didn't. I'm not against imports, but they have to be sufficiently cheaper to buy and stock for the time needed to find the right buyer and/or to compete with other cars for sale. This one was out of warranty, so in hindsight maybe not such an issue, but I can't be stocking cars I have no idea when they will sell. Or to be overcoming objections before you even start on the spec and colour that may not be what's really wanted etc.
On the way back, empty handed, took a detour to collect my Blue Metallic Honda Integra DC5 Type R or as owners call them Teg. What a lovely car that is. Because it has no number plates on, with the original plastic still covering the door shut running strips with Type R logos, new tyres and temp plastic seat covers flapping, Wheelgirl thought it was a new car. Except it's a 2002 car with 43500 miles. As Arthur Daley might say whilst patting the over-sized boot spoiler, "Not your usual smog infested fodder from the land of the rising sun. This is real quality". Or as he said in the episode (driving through the Sussex countryside as we were today) when they were trying to find the Prize Bull they had lost while in their possession "There's none of your cosmopolitan hoi polloi 'round 'ere Terrence"
