Not bad for 12 years
By Italian law, each and every car must be inspected for its road-worthiness. In November, we took our car in for its regularly scheduled revisione, inspection. All was fine, but when we picked the car up at the end of the day, Moreno said to us, “Questa macchina è vecchia – dodici anni. Dopo questo, non farete un altro revisione. This car is 12 years old. After this one, don’t do another inspection!”
Moreno
Okay. So the next inspection wasn’t due for 2 years, which to us meant that we had a long time to think about it. A month later, the car started making some “strange” noises, so back to Moreno we went. After paying for the repairs, he reminded us once again, “Questa macchina è vecchia.” Okay, okay!
We’ve known Moreno for years and he’s always given us good advice. So, we started thinking about a replacement sooner, rather than later. Our first step: the Goldilocks Method.
For those of you who don’t know us personally, I’ll describe our perpetual dilemma: Em is 6’5″ tall. In Italy that’s technically 1.95 meters. But everybody always rounds up: He’s 2 meters tall which is not the norm, so finding a car that fits can be problematic.
Classics weren't much better
We’d heard good reports about Smart Cars. He didn’t fit, they were too small. We are fascinated with the re-release of the Fiat 500. He fit IF there was a sun roof and it was open, again too small. It was recommended that we buy an SUV, which in Italy we call a “soov,” but they’re just way too big for us. We needed something “just right,” as the story goes. The next day, after going from dealership to dealership, we concluded that our best option was to get a newer model of our 12-year-old favorite.
Gaia - the voice of reason
First stop: talk with Gaia at Lottini Insurance. She assured us that the rate would stay the same, assuming the same model, and suggested that we consider 2 things about any potential purchase: one, was a number that indicated energy displacement within the engine, and two, (and I’m not kidding) the number of watts. What? We wanted a car, not a light bulb. We clearly didn’t know what either of those things were, so Gaia helped us out by saying “Provate per trovare la stessa macchina, just try to find the same car.” Perfect! We were off to see our trusty friend and mechanic Moreno.
We asked Moreno if he knew of a reliable used car dealership. “Certo. Moncini. Sure, Moncini.” Within minutes, we zipped around the corner to meet Angelo Moncini. We told him we were scheduled to leave within a week, but we wanted him to be looking for a newer car for us in the meantime. We all agreed—either within 5 days or in the spring. He called the next day. Yikes! Where’s that slow Mediterranean pace?
Now, paperwork is something that Italy reveres, along with the resulting bureaucracy. So when Angelo found us a car, we weren’t overly hopeful that anything could really materialize in the short time left.
Fiorella - little flower
We immediately scurried off to see our friend Fiorella at the bank in Fiesole. Within no time, we had a plan for her to make the payment in our absence. “Non c’è un problema, it’s not a problem.” She’s saved the day more than once in our various times of need! That evening with the help and flexibility of Angelo and his son Simone, we traded cars just hours before departure. Whew! What an experience. Our only delay was waiting for the newly purchased car insurance to go into effect—at precisely 6:30 pm that evening—thanks to Gaia. Also not a problem. We just got a coffee and talked with Simone to pass the time.
The next morning we flew away feeling a little amazed that we’d actually made the transaction happen in so little time. We couldn’t have done it without help from those we trust who are in the know.
Simone - would you buy a used car from this man? We would—and did!
Two days later, we received a message from Simone: it seemed that we’d forgotten to leave a crucial document with our old car. Now that was a problem. The solution—an emergency assist from our neighbor, Sandro. We Skyped him on his cell phone and within minutes, we had a scheme to deliver the document to Simone. As The Beatles said in their song, we truly DO “get by with a little help from our friends.”How did we get so lucky?!
You may also enjoy visiting our other websites:
The Journey – The Ride of a Lifetime
Under the Tuscan Thumb Blog by C & E
Uncommon Promise Story, Music and Art
The UP Side Lowdown 