Those were the days when, after a long period of saving, you finally had the money for your first new car. Before that there was a lot of used cars, rarely with feelings of happiness after several weeks of getting to know each other, unfortunately often with frustration about hidden defects.

That should be different now, because the new car had a guarantee. Well, it was a lot more expensive than the previous vehicles, but for that I could do my choose. I looked through the catalog for days, checked it, discarded it because it was too expensive and then added it again.

Then the appointment with the almost always male dealer. Old car handed in for examination and returned after a while with a few more discovered quirks. The shock because of the trade-in price was nicely circumvented, perhaps a small bonus was granted, which of course didn't make up for the difference between expectation and reality when it came to the residual value.

By then, however, the talks were already well advanced. In tough struggles, a purchase price was determined that did not leave both parties entirely free of pain. But it was there, leaving room for various confabulations about experiences. The delivery date was fixed and if, like us, you couldn't decide to trade it in, there was enough time to sell the old one.

That has all changed radically. The number of salespeople has increased, the opportunity to speak to one has decreased, as has the opportunity to find out more about individual models or variants in a conversation. And lately, where sales have been virtually down, there has also been a portion of unfriendliness.

And in all this misery with delivery maybe in one year, suddenly a ray of light. Peugeot is still offering a 208e in this year, with full use of the premium. Of course, the prices are correspondingly high. Compared to the Hyundai Kona we ordered, only €1,500 more remains with a minus of 64 to 50 kWh in battery capacity.

But don't think one could have figured that out easily. Because a prospectus is only available in exchange for the address plus e-mail. As if it would cost money. And the price given is the leasing rate with an incredible number of restrictions, e.g. for the kilometers driven.

That's cleverly done, because it doesn't change over the four years, for example, while the depreciation of the car drops significantly from exorbitantly high to still high. But if you only buy for four years, you pay more and if some bank advances the money, even more. If you would put the purchase price forward, one would notice the amount.

If you take a closer look at the action, you really get the insight (already mentioned) that the future world belongs to sales. You have four days over the weekend to decide and order online. Despite the high purchase price of around €38,000, there is of course only one model in one colour.

The technical data are once again difficult to detect, they are not directly accessible. For this purpose, particularly eager employees at Peugeot have been given the task of writing down everything that this 'special model' has in terms of extras. No joke: even the front and rear seats (!) are noted without further additions.

No word on when it will be delivered, as the term 'instant' has now proved to be flexible. There is also no mention of a guarantee that the manufacturer would give if the car is late for this year's premium. One can send an email, but is the offer still valid after the time of the reply?

With this description you may have found access to the phrase, 'Turning defeat into victory'.