Back in 2000 when I was looking for my first car, I decided to buy my Subaru because it was neat and compact, with a small engine and low running costs. I was just out of university, struggling along in my first job, and the second-hand three-door little car was the best I could manage at the time.

Although I’ve since moved on from that job and am now paid a respectable salary, out of some bizarre kind of loyalty to my first car – which, in all fairness, has never caused me any great problems – I refused to sell my Subaru and kept it as its value depreciated and it became less and less practical. But since it continued to run, I also reasoned that there was no reason to look for a new car, employing the maxim, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ I don’t do many long journeys so didn’t feel justified in shelling out for a new car, with all the the associated financial and environmental costs. I figured I’d just run it into the ground and hold onto it for as long as I could.

I decided to sell my Subaru Impreza when I took it into the garage for its last service. When I realised that the money I would need to spend on it over the next couple of years to ensure it kept passing its MOTs would be greater than the value of the car itself, I bit the bullet and looked for a Subaru buyer. Selling my Subaru was a sorry decision but it made no sense to keep pouring cash into a car that was ultimately destined for the scrap heap – I might as well cut my losses and buy a newer car that would need less maintenance and would, in the long term, save me money.

I used the classified ads in the local paper both to sell my Subaru and look for a new car. It was a new experience for me; I had bought my first car from a family friend as I knew he was giving me a good deal and it would be in good condition, so I’d never had to negotiate the endless questions of model, age, space, safety record, fuel efficiency, price and colour that confronted me when I scanned the listings. In the end I decided my requirements (five door hatchback, no more than five years old), and made a set of fairly arbitrary decisions to narrow it down further.

I had several inquiries from people wanting to buy my Subaru, though one or two were put off when they saw it. I did everything I could (within reason) to make it more attractive, from the obvious clean and polish to replacing the worn old windscreen wipers and filling it with petrol as an incentive. I finally found my Subaru buyer – a student looking for a first car, who wasn’t too worried about the long-term potential as long as it got her to the end of her course. I felt it had found its rightful home and was pleased that I’d managed to get something for it, even if it wasn’t much.