[christheancient]

To go back to the points on insurance.

I agree that a car should never be driven without satisfactory insurance cover.

When I bought the C70, I didn't get a drive, just a ride. But, I did have a really good shufti of everything just before and after the ride. And the manner in which the car 'rode' while I was having that ride allowed me to watch and feel how the car was being driven. That can tell a lot.

OK, back when I bought it and drove it, the scuttle shake was a new sensation to me - but I expected it and recognised that characteristic - and soon grew accustomed to it.

Sometimes, watching how a car is being driven can tell you a lot... especially when one has been an Approved Driving Instructor and Fleet Driver Trainer for many years. One can learn to sense how much the driver is driving the car properly or is struggling to make it look good!

All car purchasing is a gamble and I have seen more than one example of cars that virtually disintegrated within a few days of purchase. But it can also be true of a car that one has just had a test drive of as well.

And I'm more suspicious of a car that has a very new MoT rather than one that has an MoT (clean all through) a few weeks back!