Diesels in europe are not the polluters they are in the US. Europe has long
operated on more refined, low sulphur fuel, unavailable in the US. We (US)
will have the low sulphur diesel oil in the near future. With it, diesels
are less polluting than gasoline. That said, I love a 206 Peugeot.
Mike

ellie wrote:

    > We're going to be moving from the US to France in the fall and will be
    > buying a car sometime after that. Other than having rented cars when
    > we're in France, I'm totally unfamiliar with car models and makes there.
    > Hell, I'm unfamiliar with them here! ;-) We'll be looking for
    > something small, of course, very fuel efficient, and comparatively
    > inexpensive. I'd rather not buy a deisel since I personally don't like
    > the pollution they spew out. (In our little town in France, the flowers
    > in the window boxes get covered with black soot from deisels daily.)
    > Any suggestions?
    > Thanks,
    > Ellie

On Mon, 24 Feb 2003 12:19:29 GMT, ellie wrote:

    >Any suggestions?

Try asking in a French car newsgroup. fr.misc.automoto.mecanique seems
like a good bet.


--
Ask me for directions.

"Ringolevio" wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    >
    > "ellie" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> We're going to be moving from the US to France in the fall and will
    >> be buying a car sometime after that. Other than having rented cars
    >> when we're in France, I'm totally unfamiliar with car models and
    >> makes there.
    >> Hell, I'm unfamiliar with them here! ;-) We'll be looking for
    >> something small, of course, very fuel efficient, and comparatively
    >> inexpensive. I'd rather not buy a deisel since I personally don't
    >> like the pollution they spew out. (In our little town in France, the
    >> flowers in the window boxes get covered with black soot from deisels
    >> daily.)
    > Agree with previous posts.
    > There are so many good small cars.
    > I would limit the choice to those with a service agent nearby; I
    > wouldn't want to have to go 60km to get a Seat (or whatever) serviced,
    > not that much service is needed these days.
    >
    > Or be brave and get an old 2CV
    >
    > Roger


Forget service records! Buy the Peugeot 206 convertible!! or the 2cv with
its cloth roof....

Mike Harrel wrote in
news:2D861D7FBB540C4F.A85E0785336D40...p.airnews.net:

    > Diesels in europe are not the polluters they are in the US. Europe
    > has long operated on more refined, low sulphur fuel, unavailable in
    > the US. We (US) will have the low sulphur diesel oil in the near
    > future. With it, diesels are less polluting than gasoline. That
    > said, I love a 206 Peugeot. Mike


convertible!!!!
me want!

"Emilia" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Forget service records! Buy the Peugeot 206 convertible!! or the 2cv with
    > its cloth roof....

From time to time I still see a 2CV roaming the roads in Potomac, MD, a
suburb of Washington, DC. Last sighting was earlier this month.

Renault Twingo. Absolutely.

On Mon, 24 Feb 2003 12:19:29 GMT, ellie
wrote:

    >We're going to be moving from the US to France in the fall and will be
    >buying a car sometime after that. Other than having rented cars when
    >we're in France, I'm totally unfamiliar with car models and makes there.
    > Hell, I'm unfamiliar with them here! ;-) We'll be looking for
    >something small, of course, very fuel efficient, and comparatively
    >inexpensive. I'd rather not buy a deisel since I personally don't like
    >the pollution they spew out. (In our little town in France, the flowers
    >in the window boxes get covered with black soot from deisels daily.)
    >Any suggestions?
    >Thanks,
    >Ellie

"Cesare Borgia" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Renault Twingo. Absolutely.

After driving a rental Twingo or two, I'd prefer a more conventional car.
Why did they have to place the instruments (including speedometer) in the
middle of the car instead of directly in front of the driver. Since car
prices are usually so much higher in Britain, couldn't they have just made a
special RH drive version?

I don't think I'd go below the Clio in the Renault line. It's available w/
4 doors, if that matters. Think of it as a more-modern R5 / LeCar.

    > I love those Smart cars! But I need something just a tiny bit bigger.

like a motorcycle.

Seriously, Smart cars are cute and easy to park, but have absolutely
NO acceleration... in addition to their tiny 600cc engines, they're
also equipped with automatic transmissions. I rented one last year and
although I did manage to get up to 110 km/h on the Brussels ring, it
wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.

I've rented a number of small cars since I've been here. I drove a
Peugeot 206 for 4 months and was pretty happy with it, except for the
sticky turn lever. The Opel Astra was nice. The Renault Clio was
crappy, and the less said about the Fiat Punto, the better... I made
the mistake of renting it when it was cold, and every morning the door
locks were frozen.

At the moment I'm driving a Ford Fiesta, which is one of the better
cars I've had. It has a great feature I've never seen before: a
windshield defroster. Press a button and in 2 minutes or less, your
windshield is clear, even on the frostiest morning. No more scraping!
Not bad for a low-end car.

My dream car is a Peugeot 307. Maybe next month.

-Peter in Brussels

Peter Hartikka wrote:

    > > I love those Smart cars! But I need something just a tiny bit bigger.
    > like a motorcycle.
    > Seriously, Smart cars are cute and easy to park, but have absolutely
    > NO acceleration... in addition to their tiny 600cc engines, they're
    > also equipped with automatic transmissions. I rented one last year and
    > although I did manage to get up to 110 km/h on the Brussels ring, it
    > wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.

About time they started racing them, innit?

WE
--
Politicians and nappies have one thing in common.
They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason.
------------
This post represents the views of the author and does not necessarily
accurately represent the views of my employer.

"R J Carpenter" wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    >
    > "Cesare Borgia" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> Renault Twingo. Absolutely.
    >
    > After driving a rental Twingo or two, I'd prefer a more conventional
    > car. Why did they have to place the instruments (including
    > speedometer) in the middle of the car instead of directly in front of
    > the driver. Since car prices are usually so much higher in Britain,
    > couldn't they have just made a special RH drive version?

It's like the Mini. That's why I got the GPS system, to move the
speedometer back to the middle.



    > I don't think I'd go below the Clio in the Renault line. It's
    > available w/ 4 doors, if that matters. Think of it as a more-modern
    > R5 / LeCar.

"Peter Hartikka" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > > I love those Smart cars! But I need something just a tiny bit bigger.
    > like a motorcycle.
    > Seriously, Smart cars are cute and easy to park, but have absolutely
    > NO acceleration... in addition to their tiny 600cc engines, they're
    > also equipped with automatic transmissions. I rented one last year and
    > although I did manage to get up to 110 km/h on the Brussels ring, it
    > wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.

If you rented one, it probably had the 44 bhp engine, which does have all
the performance of a 3-tonne diesel-engined LWB Land Rover Defender. With
the 70 bhp engine, they perform as well as most small cars. Having driven
automatics for a few years now, I prefer them, but the basic Smart comes
with a clutchless progressive manual gearbox, with automatic as an option.

Colin Bignell

"R J Carpenter" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Cesare Borgia" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > Renault Twingo. Absolutely.
    > After driving a rental Twingo or two, I'd prefer a more conventional car.
    > Why did they have to place the instruments (including speedometer) in the
    > middle of the car instead of directly in front of the driver. Since car
    > prices are usually so much higher in Britain, couldn't they have just made
a
    > special RH drive version?

Britain is not the only country to drive on the left, there are about 40
others... but I suppose UK is the main one for Renault.

Roger

Peter Hartikka wrote:

    >>I love those Smart cars! But I need something just a tiny bit bigger.
    >>
    >like a motorcycle.
    >At the moment I'm driving a Ford Fiesta, which is one of the better
    >cars I've had. It has a great feature I've never seen before: a
    >windshield defroster. Press a button and in 2 minutes or less, your
    >windshield is clear, even on the frostiest morning. No more scraping!
    >Not bad for a low-end car.
    >My dream car is a Peugeot 307. Maybe next month.
    >-Peter in Brussels
    >
Interesting. I used to have a Ford Fiesta many years ago and it was one
of my all time favorite cars. I'll have to look them up. I never see
them here in the US; maybe they're only made for the non-US market. Or
maybe it's just that no one around here has one. I live in the land of
soccer moms with huge SUVs.

--
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~^~^~^~^~^~^~

http://www.ellieclemens.com

"It's not a game, it's not over."

Jean-Pierre Raffarin

Emilia wrote:

    >"R J Carpenter" wrote in
    >news:[email protected]:
    >
    >>"Cesare Borgia" wrote in message
    >>news:[email protected]...
    >>
    >>>Renault Twingo. Absolutely.
    >>>
    >>After driving a rental Twingo or two, I'd prefer a more conventional
    >>car. Why did they have to place the instruments (including
    >>speedometer) in the middle of the car instead of directly in front of
    >>the driver. Since car prices are usually so much higher in Britain,
    >>couldn't they have just made a special RH drive version?
    >>
    >It's like the Mini. That's why I got the GPS system, to move the
    >speedometer back to the middle.
    >
Cars can come with GPS systems? Wow. I am so incredibly ignorant about
the latest trends in cars. I stopped paying attention back about 20
years ago when my 1954 Austin-Healey got drowned in a flood. After that
they just became a convenient but often annoying form of transportation.


~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~^~^~^~^~^~^~

http://www.ellieclemens.com

"It's not a game, it's not over."

Jean-Pierre Raffarin

"Ringolevio" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Britain is not the only country to drive on the left, there are about 40
    > others... but I suppose UK is the main one for Renault.

Thus my comment.

Renault is called Nissan in Japan (they control N.). I don't imagine that
Renault is much of a factor in the Indian subcontinent or English-speaking
Africa, Caribbean, Oz or NZ.

Bob C.