First Impressions VW Sharan

So, we went and picked up the new car on Saturday morning (to a few wiped away tears for the departure of Poppy car), unfortunately it wasn't *all* plain sailing, when we got to Tesco at Gatwick to fill up, I was startled to discover (when I popped the cover out of the way) that the fuel cap was missing! A hurried 'phone call to the garage later, and it transpired that when they took it out for it's final test drive before handover, the mechanic had stopped for a quick "splash and dash" and could clearly remember putting the petrol cap on the roof, but (critically) not carefully replacing it afterwards...a quick drive down the road by the same (red-faced) guy failed to locate it, so they apologised and said they would drive a new one over to us this week sometime...in the meantime, we popped to Halfords and I managed to score a temporary cap (one that just wodges in) for £3 (from the clearance items shelf, because the cardboard was a bit bent on the packaging) - result...! ;)

We're still working it all out at the moment, the reversing sensors are like a motion detector out of "Aliens", a slow beeping that gets more and more urgent as you approach items behind you...the Parrot is amazing, turn on Bluetooth on your 'phone, it makes a beeping noise, and then flashes up "Synching Contacts", you throw your handset in the glove box and control everything from the dashboard (it mutes the stereo when you get/make a call and you hear the other end through it, a little microphone above the steering wheel picking up your side of the conversation)...

The little trip computer seems to be telling us we have a range (for our £30 top up) not sure how much was in there beforehand of 1400 miles (which must be wrong), based on the average MPG of about 47 (and a bit of time with a calculator) tells me that actual fuel cost to drive a mile will work out at about 0.12p...or about £24 to get to Bude in Cornwall from our house (the common benchmark for these things in our household)...or about 50% cheaper than doing the journey in Poppy...(and fuel enonomy will only improve if we take some of the seats out, as they are big and heavy, and there aren't seven of us)... ;)

So, what's it actually like to drive? Well, having never driven an automatic before, I have to say the closest analogy I can find is that it's almost exactly like driving a videogame car - stop/go and steer (with luxury leather steering wheel)...It didn't take long behind the wheel before I stopped automatically reaching down to change gears, and actually, you kind of end up feeling like you are being extremely lazy...with not even biting point to worry about, the whole experience is terribly laid back, hill starts are trivial...it almost feels like *cheating*...I mean, I don't even have to move my left leg (if I don't want to)...

Thomas *loves* his new position, the second row of seats (where he now sits) are actually even higher up than the front row, meaning in his new forward facing car seat he now has an excellent view of the passing scenery, through his deeply tinted passenger window... ;)

...oh and the Tesco shopping (10 bags) didn't make a dent on the available storage (even with the pram in the back)...which is excellent...we *coped* just fine with Poppy, but this feels like life on easy street...why struggle when you don't *have* to... ;)