I am very much into simplifying life, which usually means getting rid of possessions, but occasionally it means acquiring one judiciously.\u00a0 Last night, I vowed that I was going to buy my own car.<\/p>\n
The situation with ‘our’ current cars is as follows: both of them are relatively small SUV’s which they make up for by running on LPG. Well, sort of running.\u00a0 The first one is a good 14 years old, and has done quite well considering.\u00a0 It is still on the road, and if we can find out why it drives as if the engine was about to drop out any moment we may even have a buyer for it.\u00a0 The second one was a lemon when Mike bought it at least 8 years ago.\u00a0 Both of these cars spend a lot of time in the shop.\u00a0 When I say a lot of time, I mean that at least one of them is there almost always, and the lemon has now been undrivable and unfixable since September.\u00a0 It frequently has spent six months at a time off the road.\u00a0 One of the reasons for this situation is that Mike has a ‘deal’ with the man who installed the LPG systems.\u00a0 Mike works on his computers for free and the man works on our cars for free.\u00a0 The long and the short of it is that Mike has been getting screwed over for well over 8 years, but he’s declined to do anything about it so far. Furthermore, the cars are of a make the LPG man doesn’t specialise in… in fact there are only 2 garages in the area that can work on them, and neither want to because the cars have been modified and the other guys are not real car mechanics, they just carry out routine procedures on their particular car brand.\u00a0 Their most routine procedure is sending off to Japan for expensive spare parts. Both the cars technically belong to Mike and are insured in Mike’s name for a large sum of money annually, most of which is going to waste.\u00a0 Of course, Mike would say that they are the family’s cars, but I know damn well they’re not mine really, because if they were, this situation would not exist.<\/p>\n
In the midst of all this, Mike has spent most of the last several months trying to convince me that ‘we’ want a Suburu Forester.\u00a0 He says this is the ecological choice for us, since we simply must have a 4-wheel drive, because there is thick snow on the driveway for about 5 days a year.\u00a0 He has not specified any details of how we’re going to get rid of two currently unsellable cars and where we’re going to get the money to buy his dream machine.\u00a0 Last night, I reached the peak of frustration and decided that having my own car was the only way forward.\u00a0 It’s a very empowering thought and I spent most of the day learning about cars and calculating.<\/p>\n
I wanted one that was ecologically friendly and frugal.\u00a0 Fortunately the two often go hand in hand.\u00a0 I was already pretty sure that I wanted a Peugeot or a Renault, like about 75% of my fellow citizens.\u00a0 I’m absolutely not going to try to argue about whether they’re the best cars in the world, though my family have been happy Peugeot drivers since forever.\u00a0 Nope, the reason everyone has them here is that there are at least 483 mechanics in any area who can work on them and the parts are ubiquitous and cheap.\u00a0 It’s a case of there being safety in herds.\u00a0 If one mechanic annoys me or is busy, I just pick another.<\/p>\n
Lucky for me, when I pulled up the list of most ecologically friendly cars, the tiniest Peugeot, the 107, was near the top.\u00a0 Not because it’s a hybrid or an LPG or anything fancy like that.\u00a0 It’s both frugal and green because it doesn’t use much gas.\u00a0 I reckon to drive it about 10,000 km a year which will cost me about 680 Euros a year at today’s petrol prices.\u00a0 I know from my previous Peugeot experiences that I’m unlikely to have to fill it much more than once a month.\u00a0 Even though LPG is half the price of petrol here, our SUVs cost more than twice that much to run.\u00a0 And probably four times as much to insure.\u00a0 I’m hoping for a pretty good rate, even though I’ve never had insurance in my own name before.<\/p>\n
Since it is near the top, ecologically, the government will give me a discount of 700 Euros on a new one.\u00a0 In fact a new one with the discount costs much the same as a secondhand one, and either way, it’s going to be affordable for me.\u00a0 So I will probably get the advantages of a new car, such as they are.\u00a0 This is really the best I can do ecologically at the moment.\u00a0 It’s a case of consume less, not smarter.\u00a0 The hybrids are out of my range, and I don’t trust their complexities and the limited range of people who are qualified to work on them.\u00a0 For similar reasons, I doubt I will try to put LPG in a 107, even if it would fit.\u00a0 I decided to opt for petrol rather than diesel as I get a cheaper and slightly greener car.\u00a0 Many people like diesel here as the fuel is a bit cheaper and they reckon the engine lasts longer.\u00a0 I did the math and worked out that a diesel would pay for itself after 15 years.\u00a0 That’s so long a time frame, I’m not bothering.<\/p>\n
Of course a 107 is titchy and puny.\u00a0 It has no boot space to speak of.\u00a0 I think this won’t matter so much, because with just two people in it, the other passenger spaces can double up for carrying stuff.\u00a0 And frankly, there are also such things as trailers and roof racks for emergencies.\u00a0 The puny-ness is going to be the major issue.\u00a0 People seem to say good things about the 107s ability to occasionally make long trips.\u00a0 That’s good, but it’s the day to day issues that really count.\u00a0 I may only drive a couple of kilometres on some days but its all on hills.\u00a0 Can this thing climb well enough?\u00a0 Can it take hairpins?\u00a0 I’m only going to find that out with a test drive.\u00a0 Oh, and about that snow stuff?\u00a0 I’ll just do as the neighbours do – leave the car at the end of the driveway within one metre of the snowploughed road.\u00a0 I’ll just have to walk up and down the driveway 5 times a year. Sheesh….<\/p>\n
I know Mike is only using the snow thing as a cover for some testosterone-powered guy car syndrome.\u00a0 When I told him my plans, he said “If you want a small car, what about the Mazda Miata?”\u00a0 I know he was just kidding, he’s always wanted one.\u00a0 I told him I didn’t notice the Miata in the ecologically friendly car list.\u00a0 Did he expect to find it there?\u00a0 I am far too sensible to worry about stuff like that.\u00a0 I have more important things on my mind – like should I pay the extra 350 Euros for a blue one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am very much into simplifying life, which usually means getting rid of possessions, but occasionally it means acquiring one judiciously.\u00a0 Last night, I vowed that I was going to buy my own car. The situation with ‘our’ current cars is as follows: both of them are relatively small SUV’s which they make up for … Continue reading Vrooooom!<\/span>