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In April 1995, I purchased a Vauxhall Cavalier HB 1600, with 78,000 miles on the clock, and it has now completed almost 262,000 miles with the same engine. That engine has received nothing more than regular maintenance - general servicing such as oil changes, filters, cam belts and so on. The rest of the car has been the same story, nothing other than normal wear and tear. Apart from being economical to maintain, the Cavalier has proved to be very reliable, having only left me by the roadside twice in almost 12 years, and the bodywork is also in good condition considering its age. The car has been my main mode of transport since purchasing it, and over the past five years it has been doing anything up to 20,000 miles a year, including quite a large amount of motorway driving. Over the past four years I have also been travelling daily to and from my place of work - which is a 90 mile round trip. This is my fourth Vauxhall in 21 years and I have found each one of them to be of a high standard; this current one, however, has excelled in every way. When the time comes where I am forced (and probably reluctant) to say goodbye to it, I will be purchasing my fifth Vauxhall without any doubt.
ROB CHILDS, TORFAEN, WALES
EXTREME SPORTS
I enjoyed your piece in the last issue about extreme activities. I especially liked the one called 'zorbing', which as far as I could see was like being pushed over a cliff in a slightly padded barrel, for fun. A bit like my one in a way. Mine's called 'running a family', and there are some days when it would make Bungee Jumping seem sane, although the secret's the same - getting to the bottom and bouncing back again! You do that occasionally with a husband who still thinks he's young enough to play football at weekends (goalie, very grubby) and seven-year-old twin girls. So my sport has bits called the school run (the neighbours' kids sometimes join in that one as well), away matches, and one I especially like called weekly shopping. But every so often there are good bits called day trips and holidays. And the most important piece of equipment I need for this sport? It's called a Zafira, and apparently it's the best thing you can buy for this particular game. So it might get a bit hectic sometimes, but I wouldn't change any of it - neither the car nor the family, that is…
MRS J HEYNES, SUTTON COLDFIELD, BIRMINGHAM