A couple of days ago I made a crème renversée a.k.a. crème caramel for dessert. It's a custard made with eggs, milk, and sugar that's cooked in a baking dish that has been coated inside with caramel. For extra flavor, you can put in some vanilla or rum. I chose rum. To serve it, you let in cool in the refrigerator for a few hours and then you carefully turn it over so that the custard falls out of the baking dish onto a serving plate. The caramel is then on top of and all around the cooked custard.
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Yesterday I took my old Peugeot 206 to the mechanic's for a pre-inspection inspection. I bought the car (used) when we moved here in 2003, so next summer I will have had it for 20 years — if it's still running. Actually, it's running great right now. I wanted the mechanic to do an oil change and then check everything out to see if, for example, the brakes needed work or the tires needed replacing. Also, several light bulbs (a tail light, a parking light, etc.) were burned out, and they are a lot of trouble to change. Better to have the mechanic do it than me.
My year 2000 Peugeot 206 is one of the best cars I've ever owned. I bought it used in August 2003 and over the years have driven it to Paris and to Normandy many times, to Madrid, to France's Atlantic coast, and to Burgundy.
The Peugeot has nearly 120 thousand miles on the odometer (200 thousand kilometers). The body has some dings and scrapes, but if you don't examine it too closely, it looks like a new car. The interior is in perfect condition. These days, we only drive it around town, or to neighboring towns within a 10 or 15 mile radius. The car is a year 2000 model, so it's already 22 years old. Inspection by a government-licensed shop is required every two years for cars over four years old, and it's pretty thorough. It costs about 75 euros. The mechanic charged me 125 euros and discovered one issue that needs to be addressed before inspection. The car needs two new shock absorbers, and that will cost as much as 250 euros.
Sometimes I wonder whether it's wise to be spending that much money on a vehicle that is almost an antique. But having a second vehicle is such a convenience (the other one is a bigger, slightly newer Citroën). Buying a newer used car would cost a lot more than keeping the Peugeot going, and it is a lot of trouble to find and always risky to buy somebody else's used car. We only drive the Peugeot for short distances, and we don't often both go out in it together. We have a cell phone so that if the car breaks down, the one of us who's driving it can call the one who's at home to come rescue him. These days, we put only about two thousand kilometers a year on the Peugeot — that's about 100 miles a month.
I'm happy the mechanic didn't find major issues with the little runabout. It's more fun to drive on our narrow, curvy country roads, and it's easier to park than the wider, longer Citroën.
It looks great for its age. Our Prius doesn’t look quite so good (the sea air is doing a number on the finishes) but it’s a 2016 with only 16,000 km. Maybe we’ll get the body repaired.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's only 10,000 miles. Is there a lot of salt spray there?
DeleteWe’re right on the beach. So, the salty sea air, the wind, and the sand are killers. It’s a shame we don’t have a garage.
DeleteWe keep two cars, recently for the first time ever, we had both of them out at the same time. I drive my little VW about 120 miles a month. For a couple of years we had three cars and two drivers.
ReplyDeleteBetween 2003 and 2015, Walt and I had just one car. It was not an ideal situation.
DeleteHa we still have a 1995 Honda Odyssy which I bought used in say 1996 and we still use for hauling large items to the dump or picking up from Lowes since seats can be removed. It still passes inspection amazingly. We always debate spending money on it but it is more useful than our 2 other cars (the 2 of us are a 3 car family haha) We inherited one of those from my Dad but we use all 3 and cannot afford to buy another car so hope we dont need to. Your car looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteGood for you to have kept that Honda for so long. I wonder how different a North Carolina car inspection is from a French one. I haven't lived in NC since the 1960s, but I remember that inspections in California were much more limited in scope that they are here in France.
DeleteThat dessert looks yummy! You take good care of your cars.
ReplyDeleteI try to take good care of them, and nowadays I don't drive very much. In June 2021 with you and Esta was the most driving I had done for a while and haven't done again since. Well, Walt and I did have to drive to Tours twice to take Tasha to the veterinary surgeon when she had that torn ligament, and just over the past two months Walt and I have both had to go to Blois a few times for medical appointments. We are rubes and codgers these days when it comes to driving in urban traffic.
DeleteOh, yes, that dessert was pretty good. I'm planning to make it again soon.
DeleteThe math says you keep the car until it gives it up completely since what you are paying to maintain it is far, far less than investing in a newer model which, as you say, presents its own uncertainties. I gave up my 2000 Toyota Camry several years ago after being pushed to do so by my wife who has her own car and our adult children. When I told our mechanic about selling it, he asked, "Why did you get rid of your reliable car?"
ReplyDeleteI almost sold the Peugeot 206 6 or 7 years ago. A guy who worked out in the vineyard asked me one day if I would be willing to sell it. He was looking for a clean used car for his daughter. I thought it over for a few days and finally told him I wanted to keep it. The prospect of driving around for days to find a newer used car and of spending my money that way just didn't seem to be a good idea. I had just bought the Citroën at the time, but Walt and I were tired of having only one car. Back then, I would go on road trips, often with CHM, and Walt would be stranded here, sometimes for two or three days, with no car. Not ideal.
DeleteYou were certainly wise to keep it. Looking for a new used car is really a pain. And no matter how careful you are, you can still get stuck with problems. The last used car I bought, over 20 years ago, got an inspection from my mechanic, and certain things he found got fixed. But even with that, there was a major problem that would crop up often and that we were never able to fix properly. Then the car got totalled when my wife skidded on ice and crashed into a tree. She was fine, and we were rid of the car.
Delete"The math says you keep the car until it gives it up completely" That's always been my philosophy, although with the last car we had no choice since it was totalled in an accident.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have been married for 40 years (next week), and have always had just 1 car. It help that we've always either worked from home or commuted by public transportation; also that we've lived in urban areas.
For many years in California, I commuted from SF to Silicon Valley, first by train and later by car. Then we moved to the Valley, but it sprawls such that the only practical way to get to work was by car (though for a while I road my bike — doable but dangerous). Then we moved back to SF, and I commuted by car, a 100 mile round trip. That nearly killed me. I love to drive but I don't enjoy sitting in traffic for hours at a time. I had to have a reliable car to do such distances, so I didn't keep cars very long back then. The longest was a 1984 Subaru that I had bought new and kept for 9 years.
DeleteWe've had one car for some years now; it's rarely an inconvenience. It helps that we live easy walking distance to town. And...please send rain. -- Chrissoup
ReplyDeleteBeing close to downtown is the ideal, I guess. Walt and I really wanted to be out in the country (but not too remote) when we moved here, after 17 years in the Bay Area during which we spent far too much time sitting in traffic. Here we're lucky to have two supermarkets within 3 miles of the house, but that's too far to walk carrying bags of groceries.
DeleteBecause I am an old drunkard, I would have chosen rum too.
ReplyDeletechm we are two of a kind! ;-) Ken, since the pandemic, used car prices here have gone up exponentially - don't know if that's the case in France too. I wish we were able to buy Citroën here!
DeleteThe other choice for the custard was vanilla extract, and it probably has just as much alcohol in it as rum does. Re: car prices, yes they have soared here too. I wouldn't buy a new car at this time in my life. I don't drive enough to justify spending that much money on a vehicle.
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