We just downsized the car, replacing the old 1997 3.8l Commodore Wagon with a 2001 1.6l VW Golf. Why? Petrol seems to only go up (see my energy links), and maybe soon it will go up a lot. Also, seems really silly to be dragging the heavy and large Commodore around the place on short errands when there are only one or two of us in the car most of the time.

I guess there are normally two ways to change the car: just go to the dealer and do a trade-in on a car the dealer sells you, or go private and do all the work yourself. But there is another way. We engaged Auto Angels to arrange to buy us a new car and sell the old one. They focus on sustainable car ownership incorporating a finding, buying and selling service.

Here’s how it worked: Mark at Auto Angels spent some time with Libby working out what the new car was going to be. We worked out it was going to be a used Golf, low kms and specified three possible colours. Then Mark spent some weeks looking for the right vehicle, checking them out mechanically and so forth. When he found the right one to buy, he immediately placed a deposit on it for us. He called us to say he’d found the car. We were on holiday at Rottnest. When we got back, we did the paperwork, handed over the Commodore, and drove off in the new car.

Now, we got the new one for a good price, and got a good resale on the Commodore. And the whole process was zero hassle. Zero hassle. Zero hassle. You’ve got to love that. And there was none of that awful feeling I get at the car dealers where I feel like I’m being ripped off.