Houses often remain in the family and are passed down from generation to generation. Car more rarely. This is instead the case of that of Élodie. “It belonged to an elderly person when my in-laws took it.” Sadly, his stepfather passed away. Élodie and her husband then inherited the Peugeot 206 without suspecting that the small city car would follow them for so long: “He just turned 22.”
The neighbors’ car: Élodie and her indestructible Peugeot 206
Two decades for a car is not in itself a canonical age, as long as you take care of it. Which isn’t exactly Elodie’s concern. Her city car, which now clocks up 127,000 km, is dotted with scratches and a few bumps. Inside, the (automatic) gear lever is totally bare, the electronic display is absent, as is the radio. But the car still does its job, despite some minor quirks, and makes the 30 km a day that the young woman has to do to get to work near Moret-sur-Loing in Seine et Marne.
The local mechanic, who occasionally carries out maintenance on the car, is careful not to advise him to change models. “It has an indestructible engine that must be kept”he repeated. This block has the 1.4 liter petrol engine with 75 HP which has aged perfectly, as well as the interior plastics and upholstery of the little Peugeot which are still very valuable. Of course, Élodie finds that his automatic transmission is a bit reluctant these days. But it has never been serviced or emptied since the year 2000.
Sure, he’s thinking about his automotive future. Even if his car, which he didn’t have to buy, whose maintenance is minimal, like the insurance premium, which does not exceed 20 euros a month, is very thrifty, “despite a consumption of almost 8 l/100 km”. But the difficulties, and the current prices of new cars, even used ones, make her postpone the day when she will exchange her 206 for another car. For a 208 that happened to him far away?
A new car? But not with a manual gearbox
I’m not sure if his mechanic will tell him about a puncture proof engine again. I’m not even sure whether Peugeot’s current city car, despite its success, will one day become, like its big sister, the best-selling French car of all time, with 8.6 million units sold. In any case, she Élodie is convinced of one thing: she will never again take a car with a manual transmission.
#Élodie #indestructible #Peugeot
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