Back in 2017, it was time to trade in the Saab 9 3. After much searching and with the mandatory approval of my better half, Lexus was decided upon. I had visions of a nice IS300 in red, but it was not to be . . . So, I agreed to take a new Lexus CT200 Hybrid. Great, I thought, first new car, like, ever dudes, and saving the planet as well.  What could go wrong?

It was too good. So, good in fact that it was boring, and I hated it for four of those five years, so much that I stopped driving it at all!

After owning various Citroën's, a Jaguar, Mitsubishi's and a Saab, my issue was it was too perfect as a vehicle, but it had nothing for an enthusiast. (I'm not talking about people who have an "enthusiastic driving style", i.e., road hogs!) 

I couldn't take it anymore, so it had to go!

After long months of searching for the right car it came down to the wire. August 2022 came, the Lexus went unlamented, and I became the enthusiastic owner of a presidential class Peugeot 607 from 2007, with a planetary orbit as a turning circle!

When I bought it, I knew I was getting a "unique-fixer-upper-opportunity" because against all my better judgement, I bought one without any tangible service history, and an empty airco from an auto-flipper with a full year's MOT. Hmmm . . .

But, it's Peugeot 607, 3.0 liter, V6, 24-valve version with the Renault/Porsche engine, Tiptronic transmission and I was in love. But, it looked and sounded ok, and the emissions are the equivalent of a sheep farting! So, pretty good there too. One happy punter, apart from the strange oil smell, every now and again.

Attempt 1 of getting the airco checked, cleaned, and filled
While I waited for the 607 to be finished, the mechanic, called me over, to see the Olympic swimming pool-sized engine oil leak. Oh, and that engine coolant pipe is going to go. Frak!

Back to the auto-flipper to fight out when the leak and pipe could be fixed
Me: "I've just noticed an Olympic swimming pool-sized engine oil leak coming from the valve cover gasket that I can dive into, and there's engine coolant pipe that's going to go very shortly! You must have known about them".
Auto-flipper: "It's not covered by the guarantee because it's not a moving part of the engine and the pipe can go any time!"
Me: "Don't you do maintenance, preventative or otherwise to the vehicles you sell? 
Auto-flipper: "No!"
Me: "Isn't a valve cover gasket leak covered?  The cover encloses running parts of the engine?"
Auto-flipper: "No! It's not a moving part of the engine."
Me: "Hmmm!"
To cut a long story short, I was told I could wait for the car when I delivered it, but as it turned out, that was in the real-world, not the parallel universe of the auto-flipper.

It was so hot in August, you could fry an egg on your forehead, and I wasn't driving without airco any longer!

Back for attempt 2 of getting the airco checked for leaks, cleaned, and filled. Success! Oh, joy of joys! Sweat freezing on your body, when you switch on the engine and the airco does its thing ... Heaven!

Back to the leaking valve cover gasket
The glorious day arrived, and I left the car in front of the service area space-time portal, and walked through it to the service desk, expecting a two-hour wait. Wrong, I was asked to leave the car and come back at the end of the day. No chance mate, I've just driven 16 km to get here and expect our agreement to be met etc., etc. So, I sit down in one of their finest chairs in their exclusive showroom and proceed to wait, and wait. It was quite busy, oh dear, how sad, too bad.

Every business knows it's in their interest to get, even silent unhappy customers, gone! After 1.5 hours of the planned 2-hour wait, my auto-flipper friend strikes a deal with me, and the car is finished 10 minutes later. Job done, and he can't get me out of there fast enough. 
"I love the sound of frantic auto-flippers in the morning".

So, am I an eco-heretic, and eco-barbarian?

Like many enthusiasts, I only drive about 12,500 km a year, most of which are on motorways to, and from the kids, and grandkids. Driving in a city is for loonies so, I use the much maligned, public transport system (busses and trains). I can safely say that I'd rather perform open-heart surgery, in a sewer, with a rusty utility knife before taking the car the car in to town! When I go on holiday, it's by car not plane so, I guess that my carbon footprint is fairly small, not Greta Thunberg small, but we can't all be saints. There need to be some sinners to make the saints look saintly.

I'm as green as physically possible (see Octagon Upcycle). But, allegedly, my 607 is not as green as an electric car, which have negligible emissions while being driven. However, I'm not blind to other possibilities. 

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics - Benjamin Disraeli, Winston S. Churchill et al.
  
There are quite a few big "buts" with all-electric vehicles, as far as I am concerned. For example, the environmental impact of mining the constituents used in LI-on battery packs is being largely ignored. The buts for all-electric vehicles are Kim K-sized! And definitely not false news. (Read the linked stories for the "impartial" propaganda):

•  Only China can dispose (not recycle, yet) of the hundreds of thousands of Li-on battery packs in electric cars.
•  Getting the constituents of the Li-on battery packs damages the environment.
•  In 2022, 70% of the world's electricity still comes from fossil fuels. (This fact is conveniently buried half-way into the review.)
•  Most countries don't have the required electricity generating capacity for a mass switch to electric vehicles.(Although I agree with most of this article, it doesn't change the fact that one of the Dutch provinces announced a moratorium on new electric vehicle charging pole installations because the network capacity HAD been exceeded. So, Hmmm, use your best judgement.)
•  Electric vehicles are still cleaner than Gasoline. Oh, really? There are no other solutions? If we invest in exhaust management and hydrogen fuel cells (which I'll be doing) the difference is 0.
•  Diesel and Bio-diesel were the answer to everyone's problems, pushed by governments and reliable bodies back in the early 2000s? Now, anyone who has a Diesel car in The Netherlands is in league with Darth Sidius!

That's the first month of owning a piece of engineering history and living with it for this blog.
Check in for the next installment of Octavius and the eco-607 in a week or so. Better still, drop me a mail and I'll add you to the mailing list.

And Finally . . .

Octavius is my alter-ego, you can contact us at OPC using the form. Cicero coined the phrase alter-ego, as part of his philosophical construct in 1st-century Rome, in which he described it as "a second self, a trusted friend". I would classify it as the normally private me with a little touch of one of Scotland's finest 20-year old Single Malts (Laphroaig).

Here are a few jokes to finish up with:
"I lost my ID the other day. Well, at least I still have my Ego and Super Ego."
"If I wanted to kill myself... I'd jump from your ego to your IQ."
"I just found out that a friend of mine has a secret life as a priest, it’s his altar ego."
"People tell me l have a big ego, but it's ok ... "I know I'm awesome."

That's all folks and have a good one!