Seeking Car

Having got accommodation sorted. The next task is the car.
My car is 20 years old and has survived a wall falling on it as well as unknown mishaps before it was recued by the former owner, my mechanic, who also sold me my previous car, which made it to 27 years old. Peugeots are good cars, but sadly the current one after five briliant years with me, has had his life.
I am looking for a small car prefer Peugeot but would consider C.Saxo or that other one or any smallish car, prefer petrol, left or right hand drive but on French plates, must have CT (of course, although some people on LeBonCoin do try to sell without) I can deal with light repairs myself.
I am in Brittany but may be able to travel to surrounding regions to collect.
Ps, I do know about the scheme to trade in for a new car but mine is petrol and doesnā€™t qualify.
Nothing suitable on LeBonCoin at the moment, and people on here are so helpful, so far brilliant responses to my posts, so I thought I would ask you all, in case you have a dusty spare car in the barn.

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My advice would be to look for good value, rather than a specific make or model.
I have a 10 year old Fiat Panda that I bought on LBC 6 years ago. The man was having difficulty selling it, because it was the entry level model and potential buyers were walking away when they realized that it didnā€™t have power steering, central locking or climatisation, so he had dropped his asking price by 20%. Didnā€™t bother me much, I have been driving cars without those features for most of my life.
A relative in the trade says that things that make cars hard to sell can often be cheaply fixed. Damaged hub caps and broken mirrors can be replaced and a good clean and polish works wonders. Smells of pets or tobacco can be eliminated by a professional valeting service.
Fiat spares are cheap. In the time I have had the Panda, I have had a failed heater control valve and have replaced the brake disks and suspension arms, otherwise no problems. Nice to drive and a useful load carrier.

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Good advice. The reason I say Peugeot is my experience of them over the past few decades has been so good, plus they are plentiful in France, all the old farmers round here drive Peugeots held together with tape and prayers. Good engines, cheap to run, etc. But I totally get that other cars such as Pandas are worth a try, one of my family used to have a Fiat Panda and he kept it until it died. I am not fussy about the minor things like smells and bumps and things, I can do minor work on the car myself. Itā€™s just a question of finding the right car. And same as you, I can get by without the mod cons. As long as it drives, and is safe, that is what matters.

ā€˜Iā€™m looking for a Pandaā€™.
ā€˜Well we had one here recently but when heā€™d had some dinner, he shot everone and scarperedā€™.

Fiat are the family who live in a castle outside Turin, arenā€™t they? I remember someone pointing it out to me. ā€˜Thatā€™s where the Fiat Family livesā€™.
I wonder where the Peugeot family live.

The Fiat family arenā€™t called Fiat - they are called Agnelli.
The Peugeot family come from near Sochaux/MonbƩliard, I drove past yesterday :grin:

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Cheers, now I know.
It must be the Agnelli family who have a castle near Turin then. The lady who told me that it was the Fiat family castle was Hungarian.

Letā€™s face itā€¦ I may not know someoneā€™s name, but I might well know what they are ā€œconnected toā€ā€¦ hence she might well say ā€œthe Fiat familyā€ meaning just that, the family who own/owned Fiatā€¦ :upside_down_face: :wink: (I have always been hopeless with namesā€¦ )

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Exactly. Unless I look back at the post, I have already forgotten the Fiat familyā€™s real family name.

FIAT - Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino

These days FIAT and Peugeot come under the same umbrella.

Ah, that was the ā€˜otherā€™ car that I meant then, when I said Peugeot, Citroen Saxo or the other one, it was Fiat. All good cars, although Saxo used to be for boy racers.

I know 2 people who have bought from these people recently and they were both very impressed with the service and the large discounts.

https://www.auto-ies.com/

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But Pandas are made in Poland, which is just one reason why their economy is doing rather well and Brexit Brits can no longer find a reliable plumber. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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