NOW CLOSED Talk to us about all things cars related - you could win a great prize - inc. a meal cooked for you and your friends, Tesco vouchers or Good Food Show Tickets

[AnnMumsnet]

We want to know about you and the cars you buy - are you a petrol head who dreams of updating their ride on a regular basis? Or are you driving ancient wheels around and just don't care?!

Please take a few minutes to tell us by completing our survey then add your details at the end and you will be entered into the prize draw for one of the fab prizes up for grabs - these are:

1. Purple Grape Catering are offering a three course meal for six people cooked in the comfort of your own home. It will include canapés, a 3 course meal and half a bottle of wine per head and a waitress. They will come to your house and cook, serve and clean up.
   
   
2. We have 2 £250 vouchers to spend in any Tesco store or at any Tesco fuel station.
   
   and finally:
   
   
3. You could win four tickets to your choice of either the Clothes Show, Good Food Show or Masterchef live
   
   More details here
   
   The survey is open to all Mumsnetters with at least one child and who have a car - any car - company included.
   
   Thanks
   MNHQ

[nowwearefour]

done

[frenchfancy]

Done

Not the best written survey in the world is it?!

[Rainbow]

Done xxx

[TINKERBELLE33]

Done. Would have liked somewhere to write about why I had a bad experience when buying a car as 11 years later I am still fuming even though the sexism was aimed at my mum. "ooh no deary, you don't want one of those, they are far too powerful for you, we don't want you getting into any trouble now do we. What you really want is the tiny thing in the corner which has an engine smaller than a washing machine because after all you're a little woman who shouldn't really be allowed to drive a nice little runaround"

Thankfully my mum put him in his place being an ASD who used to be into motor racing in her younger days.

[Codandchops]

Done too. I have aways driven a lease car but now I am out of work my choice of vehicle has had to adjust somewhat .

Thnank goodness for eBay where I picked up a 14 year old Rover 200 with just 44k on the clock (belonged to an elderly lady). It cost me £300 in total with an MOT which it sailed through.

[Betty101]

Can't believe BMW - bought a new car from them 12 months ago - popped it into the franchise for servicing & told them that the aircon has never worked. They asked for £700 plus VAT to fix it!! Even though I had already brought the car in once already. This is COOPERS in Reading. So patronising ... Did I know how the Aircon worked???? Did I switch it on properly. Also they say it broke because I was driving so fast down a motorway that a stone came and hit a pipe under the radiator...!!! Cannot believe we are in the 21st Century. Has anyone else had a similar running?

[LackaDAISYcal]

Done, but Ye Gods what a tedious survey. Even if my phone wasn't playing silly buggers, I would have been banging my head off the desk in irritation.

Agree that the questions were a bit condescending implying that I was a silly little woman who couldn't make a decision when it comes to cars; obviously whoever composed the survey was channelling their inner car salesman

And having just read some of the replies, maybe it was the survey rather than my phone that was at fault

[Roseformeplease]

Done. Fingers crossed.

[FourThousandHoles]

I've done it but agree that the tone was a bit

DH has a company car so it makes financial sense for us to have his car as the main family car, he drives a diesel estate and it would be pointless to have two such cars. We did have some choice as to which car he had but there were limits set by his employer as you would expect. I had some input but in the end it was his choice, not because I am a wifey, but because he spends a lot of time driving it at work and therefore had to be driving something he felt comfortable in.

My car was a joint decision (a bad one as it happens ) based on a deal that was too good to refuse at the time (bought for silly money from FIL). It will be swapped in the near future for something more economical.

[melatoon4]

Done.

[Llareggub]

That was the worst survey I have ever completed on MN. I very nearly abandoned it half way. What a load of patronising and sexist rubbish. Pah.

[BiscuitNibbler]

The assumptions were funny, and it is their own research they are messing up by not asking the right questions.

Like a lot of SAHMs, I make the purchasing decisions, drive the "family" car and my DH goes to work in the small secondary car (partly because he is crap at parking a big car). This doesn't fit with the stereotypes so their research is flawed.

[ImperialBlether]

Same here - I kept looking around the room to find a husband.

[NicholasTeakozy]

Done. Favourite ad is

[MuslinSuit]

Done - but there is clearly an assumption being made about how a 'Mum' acts, behaves and is perceived. I don't believe the questions needed to be phrased so condescendingly, they seemed to assume that I'm the 'little wife' who has little financial or other power in decisions - what century are they in?

[HammeringBird]

Done. We are actually collecting our new (used) car tomorrow.

Agree with everyone else about patronising questions. I did all the research because DH is useless and would never get round to it I'm on maternity leave and have a bit more time than DH, but we still made the decision together. But this wasn't an option on the survey.

Would love the dinner but the vouchers would be so much more useful.

[r3dh3d]

There wasn't anywhere much to put how you would like to buy a car.

It would be nice to avoid salespeople altogether - if you could get proper info online (instead of those rubbishy online brochures full of expensive photos and poncey animations but which utterly fail to explain the options and prices in plain English) and the dealership was just an office for booking test drives with a minder who wasn't allowed to say anything whatsoever unless you couldn't find the gear lever, or were about to crash into something. And then to be allowed to make your own mind up based on the facts, without the need to employ professional liars to take a big fat wodge of commission for "selling" you a car you were about to buy anyway.

That would be good.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

There wasn't an option on the survey where I could indicate how much ds1 does in selecting what car we want, and finding the best ones on autotrader/ebay etc. He is a total petrol head, and spends all his spare time on Pistonheads website, talking about cars with other petrol heads - and when we needed an estate car with lots of legroom, he knew which make and model had most rear legroom/space - and we went and bought one. Dh makes the final choice, but he often takes ds1 with him to look at the cars he's considering buying. In all honesty, he gives ds1's opinion more weight than mine.

[nickelhasababy]

My DP/DH is wholly responsible for the researching/planning and the decision I do some of the researching/planning with my DP/DH but he makes the final decision
I make the final decision but my DP/DH is involved with some of the researching/ planning
I am wholly responsible for the researching/planning and decision
We are equally responsible for the researching/planning and the decision
Don't know/NA

and under each of these are the answer boxes Main driver:Me or Main driver:DH.

[nickelhasababy]

it copied over strangely, sorry.

[nickelhasababy]

question 5 makes no sense whatsoever.

the "questions" are actually the answers from q4.
it's unanswerable.

1. If you have more than one car in your household, do you and/or your DP/DH have a car which you or they consider theirs/yours which is not really used as a main family car? Eg a company car, a car used only for trips to the station, work, school run etc.
   

If so, when it comes to buying this car, which of the following best describes the decision-making process for you and your family? Please tick to indicate who is the main driver/user of the car.

If you don't have this sort of car or you only have a family car then please leave this question blank.

Tick one per row where applicable.
My DP/DH is wholly responsible for the researching/planning and the decision I do some of the researching/planning with my DP/DH but he makes the final decision I make the final decision but my DP/DH is involved with some of the researching/ planning I am wholly responsible for the researching/planning and decision We are equally responsible for the researching/planning and the decision Don't know/NA
Main driver: Me
If you have more than one car in your household, do you and/or your DP/DH have a car which you or they consider theirs/yours which is not really used as a main family car? Eg a company car, a car used only for trips to the station, work, school run etc.

If so, when it comes to buying this car, which of the following best describes the decision-making process for you and your family? Please tick to indicate who is the main driver/user of the car.

If you don't have this sort of car or you only have a family car then please leave this question blank.

Tick one per row where applicable.
Main driver: Me My DP/DH is wholly responsible for the researching/planning and the decision

Main driver: Me I do some of the researching/planning with my DP/DH but he makes the final decision

Main driver: Me I make the final decision but my DP/DH is involved with some of the researching/ planning

Main driver: Me I am wholly responsible for the researching/planning and decision

Main driver: Me We are equally responsible for the researching/planning and the decision

Main driver: Me Don't know/NA
Main driver: DH/DP
Main driver: DH/DP My DP/DH is wholly responsible for the researching/planning and the decision

Main driver: DH/DP I do some of the researching/planning with my DP/DH but he makes the final decision

Main driver: DH/DP I make the final decision but my DP/DH is involved with some of the researching/ planning

Main driver: DH/DP I am wholly responsible for the researching/planning and decision

Main driver: DH/DP We are equally responsible for the researching/planning and the decision