Clock around 13-02-2023 Volkswagen Bora 1.6 – 2000 – 403,025 km – Clock around An amiable Limburger says goodbye to his Volkswagen Bora after 23 years. That’s why treats… 84

A customer who has been loyal to Volkswagen for years, that Jan Peters from Heerlen. Before this Bora there was a Vento and before that there was also a Golf 1 Sprinter. “That was quite a special action model in bright yellow. With black and white checkered upholstery and seat belts in the back. Yes, I do have a thing for colors,” says the 75-year-old. Even so, Jan has sometimes looked further: “A Renault 16 passed by, an Audi 80 from the same house and then again a Vento.”

Blue Bora with 3000 kilometers, color did it for him

Body color is also reflected in the story about the purchase of this Bora, now more than 22 years ago. “I was looking around Sittard once. At home, while eating pies, it regularly passed that it might be time for something different.” The salesman on duty approached Jan and said: “Mr. Peters, if it doesn’t necessarily have to be new, I have something very nice for you. One warning in advance: the color is very pronounced.” Jan saw the blue Bora and was immediately turned around. That had to be him, a demo with 3,000 kilometers on the clock. He didn’t know how fast he had to get 17,500 guilders from the bank.

But Mrs. Peters was also there and she turned white: that color! “She didn’t like it at all,” admits Jan, but they came out anyway. A happy Jan stepped in, only to finally get out after more than 22 years. De Bora became a member of the Peters family and he drove and drove and drove. “I was a medical instrument maker, associated with the hospital in Heerlen. There used to be a department there that made instruments for their own use. They are all bought in nowadays. Now I still work as a consultant for companies that want to build and furnish operating rooms.”

In addition to the parents, the Peters family also consists of three sons. They consider themselves more car-minded and car connoisseur than Dad. “I kept driving with that Bora and more and more often I was told that it was time to buy something else. Why, I asked, because I’m happy with this Bora and it offers me everything I’m looking for in a car,” explains Jan. Another reason: he prefers to spend his money on something else. Which brings us to his true nature: he would rather help others than spoil himself.

“With my network and my medical background, I am committed to a hospital in Ghana. Those people there have nothing at all and with the help of Wilde Ganzen and actions by schools in the area and so on, we managed to set up a hospital there. Without X-ray equipment you don’t get much started with a hospital. So I put time and energy and some money into that, instead of a Bora successor. That X-ray machine has arrived and that gives a lot of satisfaction. It really makes a difference there.” We’re quiet about that. The story behind the long service of Jan Peters’ Volkswagen Bora is more than heartwarming.

Corroded brake lines

Less good news comes from our technical department. Judge Joep Schuurman gets a cramp in his hand from writing down all the points of interest that he encounters under and in the Bora. Just take the very old brake fluid and the completely rusted brake lines … That there is no future music in this German sedan is the understatement of the AutoWeek. There’s a time to come and a time to go, and the time to go has now come for this (almost) millennium bug. Jan switched to a new Volvo XC40 Plug-in Hybrid in January. “I can’t keep it dry.”