Today, my car reached a milestone...50,000 miles!
And to celebrate, it got a new exhaust!
*Fact* The Earth's circumference at the Equator is 24901.55 miles.
So my little car has driven the equivalent of driving round the Earth twice!
My green Citroen Saxo has been a very reliable friend over the past 6 and half years whilst it has been in my care and hasn't needed much work doing to it in all that time. In fact, when I got it, it had just short of 25,000 miles on the clock so I've only just doubled that and it is 11 years old now! (Same age as my youngest daughter. Although 11 in human years is young, I think 11 in car years seems a lot older!)
It is usually only used for the school run but has had a few longer journeys along the motorway, when I'm feeling brave! I really don't like driving on the motorway, unlike Phil, my wonderful husband, who regularly drives an almost 700 mile round trip to come home on the weekends!
However, my little car almost didn't make it to this milestone in it's life when it was almost written off 2 years ago.
Someone reversed into the side of me as I was reversing out of my parking place at a local supermarket. The driver admitted it was her fault. But when it came to the repairs, the insurance company said the car wasn't worth as much as it would cost to pay out for the bodywork to be fixed. I was really upset about it because the insurance company made that assumption by looking at their guidebook for a car that age and model and also on what a garage told them about the work that needed doing...not what I knew about the car. I explained about the low mileage, how it was in great condition and well looked after and that there was no way they were writing it off!
Thankfully after many phone calls pleading my case, a nice man came and took a look at it and said it wasn't your average 'Y' reg car and decided the repairs could go ahead...So my beloved car was saved! Hooray!
I'm hoping with it's new exhaust it will keep going for a few more years yet and then I can pass it on to the girls to learn to drive in...so no retirement for the old car just yet!
And as a special treat...I may take it to the car wash on the weekend and possibly give it a vacuum too...well, it's not every day your car reaches 50,000 miles on the clock!
:) I liked this. It seems like so much in the world now is thought of as disposable. I find it sad, it cheapens our existence this idea that everything should just be thrown away as soon as there is a scratch or a tear or a part to be replaced.
ReplyDeleteConversely we are so desperate to hang on to our own lives that we replace all sorts of bits of us...and we wouldn't dream of scrapping ourselves when we get a scratch or a broken leg. We are weird monkeys ;)
I love that you appreciate and care for your mechanical friend :) There is a different energy in the things that are loved and cared about. A piece of furniture that is made lovingly by hand, by a craftsman who values his/her trade, his/her materials has much more energy and soul than a mass-produced piece made in a sweatshop by people hardly making enough money to feed their families.
I look forward to a time when we will love and appreciate what we have, a time when the love and time that someone has put into making something will be valued again.
Here's to your little car's next 50,000 miles! Love Kath xx
After reading that, I think you should write a blog! You express yourself so well. Great observations! And I agree, we live in a disposable world where we can borrow money left, right and centre and replace things that are hardly worn out...but 'we fancied a change' or 'never liked it much anyway'. My little car does the job...just hope the next blog post isn't about it letting me down :) lol xx
DeleteThanks Marie :-) I had started one earlier in the year but only posted a couple of times and I've been through a lot since then so might need to revisit and restart!
ReplyDeletekeep up the good work :-) xx