It’s with a heavy heart I announce the demise of a grand old gal, Serena, my 1990 Nissan Sunny, the only car I have ever owned. She got a bad case of heart burn over the Christmas, the anti-freeze froze and her engine over heated and melted, unfortunately she’ll require a heart transplant if she is to ever run again. It’s a shame since the engine was only 5 years old and had only run for about 70K miles, there was a lot of life left in her. That’ll teach me to check the anti-freeze more often, an expensive lesson.
I should mention that her meltdown left us stranded in the middle of nowhere 300 miles from home, in darkness and in temperatures approaching -20 deg C, but thankfully we weren’t that far from our point of departure so help came quickly enough.
Anyway this delayed my return somewhat. We got home Thursday night but I wasn’t in the mood for blogging till now. On Friday we started the search for a new car. We did a web search around lunchtime, spotted something we liked (i.e. could afford) and drove it home from the showroom 2.5 hours later … there’s some things I like done quick ya see, it eases the pain.
Anyway, twas an interesting and expensive end to 2005, hopefully 2006 will see me winning the lotto and moving to warmer climes. Happy new year to yiz all!
Had you bought those new snow tyres yet? Nothing worse than having to give up a dead car with brand new tyres on it.
Sad ending of the year…
So you bought a new car and drove home in the same day? That’s a wonderful service you have over there!!!
Long live the new car! (What is it, by the way?)
A Chionaodh, thankfully no I hadn’t bought new tyres! However I bought a set of alloys last spring that I now have to do something with.
Antonio, well it’s not brand new, it’s 2nd hand, it’s quite normal to drive it away immediatly. You’ll be happy to know it’s a Fiat
Well, it’s a second hand car, but we have to wait at least two days before taking it home…
And about 400 euros for changing the owner’s name on the car documents.
A new car requires a couple of days more and only 155 euros…
Hope you’ll be happy with a FIAT, it’s the place where I work
That sounds like an awkward system. In Ireland you can also just drive the car away but then you have to take care of the insurance etc yourself. In Finland it is even easier, when I signed the papers for the car the salesman also transferred the registration and insurance, which is very handy.
Hey, if I have a problem with the car now I know who to complain to
Btw, now I have “moose insurance” … you just never know when a moose could pop out and try to steal your car. Troublemakers!
I know that everywhere else in Europe it’s a lot easier than in Italy… And cheaper too!
The system works that I pay the car I like, the salesman takes care of the car documents for the property change. The number plate remains the same. Then I come back after a couple days and drive my car home. Meanwhile I had to think about insurance. I cannot leave the dealer without the insurance certificate. Then I have a few days grace to pay road tax.
The expenses the salesman will meet should be payed in advance. It’s about 400 euros for the registration if the car is second hand or 155 euros if new.
Usually we get a 6 months warranty on the used car as well.
Funny this story about the moose, but you have to deal with the environment you live in
Moose can be a problem, they pop out of nowhere, especially late Autumn as they are on the move a lot.
Reindeer are also a problem, they are fucking stupid animals, there are so many of them on the roads up north and they are unpredictable. What’s worse, if you hit a reindeer and it’s seriously injured your duty is to kill the animal to put it out of its misery AND *I think* you have to pay compensation to the deer owner.
I was almost involved in a huge accident with another car and a bus because of some stoopid reindeer who decided to play chicken with the bus, you have to drive super slow when they are around.
And how are you supposed to kill injured animals?
Are you allowed to carry a weapon on cars? And how do you know who the deer owner is?
I read the link you provided, interesting. Especially beacuse the police number,112, is the same as here
Anyway, in many parts of Italy you can find road signs that warn you about the the presence of wild animals, sometimes they can be squirrels, sometimes they be wild boars. Of course you don’t know who and when
I suppose you call the police and they have someone kill the animal. Or if you are strong enough you kill it with your bare hands
This is a very common sign here: moose warning, or this when you are entering the north reindeer.
Sorry to hear of your auto woes.I had to buy a new wagon last month and I was dreading the process.Luckily one of the first people I spoke to was from Galway and she sorted me right out.I’ve had more trouble getting a pint at closing time than buying this car.We too are plauged with wildlife.Whitetail deer in this area are a huge nuisance and cause a lot of traffic accidents.Still at least if I wallop one at work I can finish the bastard off.Dent my new wagon and you WILL earn a bullet.
It’s a roof mounted minigun you’d want, take em off the road as soon as ya see em. Do a ‘George Bush’ and strike first
Shite…If you did a Bush on the feckers you’d have guerilla deer pouring sugar in your gas tank long afer you declared the world free of the tyranny of deer.
I just love the smell of venison in the morning..that smell….that smoky smell….it smells like victory!
Guerilla deer LOL!