"Passed" means it passed inspection. It was deemed road-worthy by the government-licensed expert who makes that pronouncement every two years. In 2020, I had the car completely serviced, examined, and refurbished by our village mechanic before I took it in for its contrôle technique. This year, I took it to my regular mechanic and just asked him to do a quick "sanity check" — brakes, tires, lights, etc. The Peugeot 206 is the vehicle I bought in June 2003, when we came to live in France. I bought it used, telling Walt that it wasn't the car I really wanted, but we needed a car right away, and it was the one I found. I had tried to buy a new car that summer, but was told by a dealer that he wouldn't be able to get me the car I wanted until late October! Little did I believe that I'd still be driving it in 2023, but it looks like I will — barring an accident or a major breakdown. The longest I've ever owned a single car before this was nine years.
I've always enjoyed driving this year-2000 Peugeot 206. For such a small car, it has a big engine (two liters). It's peppy, and it holds the road really well. It being small is a big advantage here, where roads are narrow and curvy, and parking spaces are small. I've tried to keep it in good shape, inside and out. It's a lot easier and less expensive to keep this car running than it would be to go out hunting for a newer used car. What would I do with a new car? I don't drive enough to want one.
Since I bought a second car (a Citroën) in 2015, I don't drive the 206 very much. And since the beginning of the pandemic I don't drive that one much either. I did the math yesterday and realized that for the past two years we've put about 145 kilometers a month on the Peugeot — less than 90 miles — and about 95 klometers a month — about 60 miles — on the Citroën.
Above, you can see the Peugeot's instrument cluster. It drives like a little sportscar. The car's back seat is minimal. It's really a two-seater, but the dog fits easily in the back. The trunk is not very big either, but when we need to we can take the back seat out and double the trunk space. It would be impossible to live here without a car, and having two of them makes life easier. I may buy another car one day, but I kind of doubt it. For future travels around France, if we ever do any, I plan to just rent a car.
Still looking good, too.
ReplyDeleteI think most Americans have no idea what a French car might be like, and this one is 22 years old. Peugeot has sold a lot of cars in the U.K. and in so many countries, but none that I know of in the U.S.
DeleteGood news on the passing grade!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm grateful to the woman who runs my mechanic's front office. She's the one who said I should get the Peugeot inspected first and then get new shock absorbers if the car inspector said I needed them. She could have said I needed them first, before inspection.
DeleteIn the past we have kept a couple of our cars for more than twenty years. The new cars are best for their safety features but they take some getting used to.
ReplyDeleteWalt and I always kept two cars in Washington DC and in California. When we came to Saint-Aignan we had just one car from 2003 until 2015. Then I bought the Citroën and since the Peugeot wasn't worth very much and isn't expensive to insure, I decided to just keep it. It's very convenient to have a second car and we drive it more than we drive the Citroën, which stays in the garage most of the time.
DeleteI think they sold Peugeot cars in the US at one point in the 1970s. Your certainly is nice looking. I heard tha prices for all cars skyrocketed during the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteThey were still selling Peugeots in the 1980s, if I remember correctly. I was getting ready to buy one in San Francisco, new, when they announced they were getting out of the American market. So I bought a VW instead. I had three VWs, two that I really liked and one that I wasn't crazy about.
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