After owning two Peugeot hatchbacks for the last few years, I have embraced the world of Ford.
My last French motor, Le 207 GTi en noir, was so unpredictable it had to go ....
Our three year relationship was a fractious one.
"Bonjour" I would politely announce as I started the ignition and gently eased it into gear.
"Hmmmph" (or more accurately L'hmmmmph).. Tyre Pressure warning...Tyre Pressure Warning...curiously, even though the tyres were at the correct PSI.
Attention! Engine Management System Failure! (There was nothing wrong with it, as the garage deduced, but not before charging me several hundred dollars for the pleasure)
One day the front passenger window decided not to open. I had simply depressed the switch, a simple enough request to action for a reasonable car....
Pah! you stuck up toffee nosed Englishman...(echoing the French Knights in Monty Python's Holy Grail)
You are no good, you cannot even say Ouvre la Fenetre....therefore I refuse to cooperate.
So for 2 years the window remained closed, eventually relying on a local mechanic emailing a UK friend of his, acquainted as he was with a contact who worked for Peugeot in Paris, in order get the unlock code for the car's computer.!!!
Yet at times, I worshipped and adored my little Gti: the style, the interior, the equipment, so Chic, so French.
And therein lies the problem. In New Zealand European cars are deemed expensive and not like the normal run of the mill Japanese marques, the armies of Swifts, Mazda 3's, the ....(Yawn.....!) Corolla.
Not such a problem if you own 2 tons of German Vorsprung durch Technik. But un petit Peugeot GTi? Merde!
Consequently Euro car's services are more expensive, as are the mechanics bills, spares, and labour costs. All of which means the ultimate resell figure, like a descending lift on the Eiffel Tower, plummets.
Therefore it was time to buy a NZ trusted Ford, and whilst my Ecosport is not the most expensive car in the range, to me it is the top Ghia.
My last French motor, Le 207 GTi en noir, was so unpredictable it had to go ....
Our three year relationship was a fractious one.
"Bonjour" I would politely announce as I started the ignition and gently eased it into gear.
"Hmmmph" (or more accurately L'hmmmmph).. Tyre Pressure warning...Tyre Pressure Warning...curiously, even though the tyres were at the correct PSI.
Attention! Engine Management System Failure! (There was nothing wrong with it, as the garage deduced, but not before charging me several hundred dollars for the pleasure)
One day the front passenger window decided not to open. I had simply depressed the switch, a simple enough request to action for a reasonable car....
Pah! you stuck up toffee nosed Englishman...(echoing the French Knights in Monty Python's Holy Grail)
You are no good, you cannot even say Ouvre la Fenetre....therefore I refuse to cooperate.
Yet at times, I worshipped and adored my little Gti: the style, the interior, the equipment, so Chic, so French.
And therein lies the problem. In New Zealand European cars are deemed expensive and not like the normal run of the mill Japanese marques, the armies of Swifts, Mazda 3's, the ....(Yawn.....!) Corolla.
Not such a problem if you own 2 tons of German Vorsprung durch Technik. But un petit Peugeot GTi? Merde!
Consequently Euro car's services are more expensive, as are the mechanics bills, spares, and labour costs. All of which means the ultimate resell figure, like a descending lift on the Eiffel Tower, plummets.
Therefore it was time to buy a NZ trusted Ford, and whilst my Ecosport is not the most expensive car in the range, to me it is the top Ghia.
What is boohoo in French?
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