Tuesday 16 April 2013

My car



My car ‘broke down’ today!  Well, I say broke down but it didn’t actually stop – it just started going slowly.  I was in a 40mpg limit but the car didn’t know that and even if it had, I wasn’t exceeding the speed limit.  I went down a gear and the car momentarily speeded up but then started going even slower, at which stage the adrenaline kicked in and I thought ‘I’ve got to get home’ which was only about half a mile away.  It was then I noticed the nasty little orange light on the instrument panel and a slight smell of burning and realised that I should probably be stopping very soon.

With traffic disappearing off into the distance in front of me and gaining very fast behind me, I had a sudden revelation … about 200 yards further on was Coopers Peugeot garage and although my car is a Fiat, there were a number of things which convinced me they were my salvation.  My car had been serviced and MOT’d there last year, I knew the owners well and best of all they were close!  I crept on to their forecourt, switched off and abandoned!

After being gently ribbed by lovely Diane, Ivan and son Ben for breaking my car, the mechanic plugged in his little box and pronounced an ignition coil had burned out.  Phew, not terminal then!

I left my car in their very capable hands and lovely Diane even gave me a lift home.  I am just so grateful that this didn’t happen on the by-pass!

3 comments:

  1. Carolyn spent as much getting her 2002 VW MOT'd as I just have for my bumper. Years ago, I sold my ancient Cortina for £100 less than the MOT would've cost. Getting the message? C3. It's lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My car broke down last week in my drive. I was very lucky. Glad you were too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmm, turned out I wasn't as lucky as I thought! When the ignition coil burned out it apparently 'spiked' and killed the ECU which I'm told is the engine control unit and a new one is £1,000. Probably more than the car is worth! They are looking for a second hand one but it's now two days. I shall have to get on the bus tomorrow to get some bread - no more village shop :-(

    ReplyDelete

Our lucky day!

  The Bumblebee Conservation website tells me "If you find a bumblebee nest, consider yourself very lucky! They aren’t very common, and...