A Soft Breeze of Discontent 2

So, it turns out that the reason my eccentric-but-well-loved-if-not-particularly-clean car failed to make it home the other night – an event described in Soft Breeze of Discontent 1 here – was due, as the local mechanic (described here) diagnosed, to a ruptured ‘curroire de distribution’.

It also turns out -that despite my assertions yesterday - English cars, and my ex (a Renault) qualifies as such through usage – DO have one and it is known in those parts as a Timing Belt.

Clearly a misnomer as the timing was exceptionally bad; it was evening, our other car – even older, even dirtier - was marooned in an airport parking 90 km distant, someone was waiting for me to pick them up in the nearby town, a heavy day of car and work had been announced for the morning and it was freezing.

A month earlier having unbelievably being accredited a loan from the bank –described here - I had visited the local car showrooms. I had sat with the rep, pretended to be financially solvent, looked at all the offers and negotiated terms for returning a car as part of an eventual purchase.

“And what about something a bit more eco- friendly, a hybrid, or electric with long range capability and easy to plug in recharge-ability?”

“Ha, ha, ha!”

So I hesitated and now both the compensation offered is several hundred euro lower and it looked like I would be pushing my car into their garage, not driving it.

Now would they give me anything?

I took the next day off and cruised the local garages, small ads and back alleys and, despite seeing a very nice Alpha Romeo that was very vaguely in my price range, I settled for something that looks pretty much like what I left at the side of the road – only a different colour.

The seller, someone I wouldn’t trust further than I could toss them, did some sort of insurance-fiddle-deal-thing and then collected and discounted against my wreck. And then told me off for bringing it to him so dirty!

The new car is excellent, it’s lights work, the tyres don’t need changing, the windscreen wipers work independently of the break lights and I can still get Talk Sport –explained here – on the radio.

And it’s clean!!

I have just two concerns. It comes with cruise control – something I don’t understand and which is clearly very expensive to repair. And the doors automatically lock when you set off.

I tried out the cruise control on the way home from the market. I think it is designed for straight roads and drivers with nerves of steel.

And I know for sure that one day I will arrive somewhere and that automatic locking system will simply refuse to Unlock – and I will be trapped inside, forever with only Talk Sport as comfort.