Rachel O’Brien is saying goodbye to her 20-year-old Corolla, which will be replaced by a brand new Skoda she won through The Hits' Cash’n’Car giveaway. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rachel O’Brien is saying goodbye to her 20-year-old Corolla, which will be replaced by a brand new Skoda she won through The Hits' Cash’n’Car giveaway. Photo / Warren Buckland
A Napier woman says she can’t believe she will be able to replace her 20-year-old Toyota with a brand new Skoda after winning The Hits’ Cash’n’Car giveaway.
Rachel O’Brien was near the end of her workday at Rothbury Insurance Brokers when she got the call telling her she had won a Skoda Karoq worth $46,990.
“I still really can’t believe it at the moment. It hasn’t really sunk in properly. It is beyond words,” O’Brien said.
“My workmates were sitting there listening when I got the phone call yesterday. It was just before pack-up time, so the whole office was sitting there listening in on the call. So that was quite exciting and neat, that I had them all around me when I got the news.”
“They told me nicely yesterday that they know someone who can help with insurance for the new car.”
Her current vehicle is a 2004 Toyota Corolla RunX, which she and her husband now plan to trade in.
“Hubby always talked about getting a ute, so we might look at trading his car and my Corolla so he could look at getting a ute. It will help so we don’t have to rely on others that have vehicles with tow bars and borrowing a trailer to do things that we need to do,” she said.
“It is like a new year, a new beginning. I have been through health problems over the last few years, and it is sort of a fresh start, clean slate. Everything is sort of falling into place, and it is just a wonderful feeling.”
The Skoda Karoq, worth $46,990. O’Brien said she has had health problems in recent years, but this year felt like a fresh start. Photo / The Hits
She said she always liked to have a go at entering competitions and had tried entering the Cash’n’Car in the previous two years of the competition, but hadn’t had any luck until now.
“I thought I’d have another go this year and see what happens, and I was lucky enough to get through and it spiralled from there.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. Contact him at: james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.
