Nothing, or nearly nothing, was the answer. We had one parking light on the front of the car that needed replacing. The tires have about eight thousand kilometers of life ahead of them. The brakes and brake pads are fine and won't need replacing for another few years. Anyway, it was all good news. I took a short test drive with Tasha in the driving rain. Walt went to the supermarket in the other car.
Sunset yesterday afternoon — the house is a résidence secondaire owned by a woman who inherited it a few years when her husband passed away.The bill for the oil change and general inspection came to 145 euros. I'll probably take the Citroën in for a similar inspection and oil change in January. Then both cars will have their official inspection by a government-licensed inspector sometime toward the end of 2026. I'd rather keep these two cars in good running order rather than have to go looking for another one to buy.
We have two cars, my little VW convertible is 17 years old and has 56,000 miles on it, the Benz is ten years old with 36,000 miles on it, at our age, and with the 3-4000 miles a year that we drive between the two cars, they will outlive us if we take care of them.
ReplyDeleteHaving good mass transit, as you do, is quite an advantage. We have nothing like that out here in the French countryside. What we do have is good local shopping, with three supermarkets within three or four miles of our house, and two outdoor markets within the same distance on weekends. It seems like everybody around here has a car or two. Small businesses in the towns and villages are suffering, though. The population of the historic center of Saint-Aignan has been steadily declining since we came here 20+ years ago. People would rather live outside the villages, out in the country.
DeleteNew cars cost as much as we paid for our first house now. Used cars are also quite expensive.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the house I grew up in in N.C. was worth about ten thousand dollars ( 50 or 60 years ago). Now Zillow shows it valued at half a million.
DeleteFantastic!
ReplyDeleteI love the little Peugeot. I thought I loved the Citroën (the car we drove up to Chambord in when you visited, nearly 10 years ago. I keep thinking of selling it and buying a smaller, newer car to replace it (keeping the Peugeot for local errands).
DeleteGood news on the Peugeot! Yes, cars are a depreciating asset, so no use buying one until you have to.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll ever buy another new car. I had four new cars between 1984 and 2003 in California. I did a lot more driving back then.
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