Stalled the car in heavy evening rush hour traffic yesterday in the middle of Castelnau, heading towards Hammersmith Bridge. It wouldn't start again: wouldn't turn the engine over although normally with a warm engine it turns over quite easily, and the engine itself always starts easily.
Moe than a little embarrassed, we shoved the jalopy across the bus lane into someone's driveway entrance on the pavement. There were no useful tools in the car. I hadn't even got my AA card or mobile but herself had both.
The AA bloke, who was Ugandan, turned up inside 40 minutes by which time most of the traffic had vanished. He did his stuff and confirmed what I really knew to be the case: that the battery had had it. But he had a new one in the van that fitted and is guaranteed for three years. What's more it only cost £102, less than 20 quid more than it would have cost me to buy a suitable battery and put it in myself. We weren't even all that late for where we were going. And now the starter spins the engine at a decent speed, for the first time since we've had the car. Once the engine fan has been fixed it will be healthy again (give or take the odd new suspension clonk, and the need to recode the radio, bit of a nuisance that).
Herself seemed a bit miffed when I explained that the battery had really only cost 20 quid though. Tell that to my debit card, she muttered drily.
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What's more it>> only cost £102, less than 20 quid more than it would have cost me to
>> buy a suitable battery and put it in myself...............................
>> Herself seemed a bit miffed when I explained that the battery had really only cost
>> 20 quid though. Tell that to my debit card, she muttered drily.
Were you/are running a Chrysler PT Cruiser?
I do like your "only cost £102". I shudder to think how much it would have cost before you thought it was expensive!
They still say on this forum "If I had Lud's money"
tinyurl.com/nm8csh2
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Battery saga? Guess it was always going to be over fifty...
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Heh heh... even 50 quid seems steep to me Duncan. But a Varta battery from the nearest Halfords would be 85 or so, their cheapo equivalent about 70 I think. I'm not brilliant at seeking bargains on line.
I paid my dues as a hands-on oil-covered tinkerer over many years and am a bit past the hassle and energy expenditure now.
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>> in the middle of Castelnau, heading towards Hammersmith Bridge...
A book you might enjoy AC. "A Traveller's Life" by Eric Newby. I have a copy you could have if you ping me an address to send it to. Autobiographical account of the life of a guy brought up in Castelnau in the early 20th century. I enjoyed it.
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I get my batteries from Shepherds Batteries in Salford. I could have put you up for a night, Lud and the 400 miles wouldn't have cost much in fuel in the PT, would it ?
Ted
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30-33 mpg going briskly, 37 wafting... it's a bit thirsty.
Perhaps we'd be better off with one of those 140mph, 50mpg (but not at the same time probably) BMWs. And I am fascinated by the (officially) very low-emitting Fiat Twin Air, allegedly capable of guzzling below 30mpg as well as sipping at 70mpg... love to try one.
There's an offensively cute little bronze-colourd Nissan two-door coupe/convertible thingy for sale in a nearby village. Looks too smart to be really cheap and I wouldn't want to be seen driving it, so I have avoided taking a closer look to see what they want for it. Cars can be quite cheap round here. But it's probably economical enough almost to pay for itself in say a couple of years of local bimbling, expensive in the Chrysler.
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>>They still say on this forum "If I had Lud's money"
A fool and his money are easily parted.
;-))
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>> A fool and his money are easily parted.
I think you'll find the proverb says 'soon parted' rather than 'easily parted', Perro.
And if you're going to scratch your ear with your hind leg in that offensive manner I think you should do it outside. There are ladies present.
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>> >> A fool and his money are easily parted.
>>
>> I think you'll find the proverb says 'soon parted' rather than 'easily parted', Perro.
>>
>> And if you're going to scratch your ear with your hind leg in that offensive
>> manner I think you should do it outside. There are ladies present.
>>
>>
A dog and his fleas are never parted...
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It's only 64 quid for an Exide with a 3 year guarantee for my Subaru Forester 2.0 auto FFS!
There's no fool like an old fool.
;-))
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Oh DO stop licking them like that Perro. Honestly....
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I was out in a Twin-Air this afternoon, Lud.
It's not a motorcar for an English gentleman.
Ted
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>> not a motorcar for an English gentleman.
Sounds promising... what about a small-town Italian teenage hooligan? I'm nothing if not adaptable Ted.
Did yr driver, if it wasn't you, give it some proper boot? Jekyll and Hyde motor they say. I like that.
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I'm too old to do ' boot ' now. Only a short city drive to get a slow puncture fettled at National and enjoy a 20p cup of their excellent machine coffee while I waited.
I don't find the tickover very smooth and the stop-start is a bit disconcerting but it's ok as a roller skate.
We have 4 on the fleet here. There's nowhere to give them a taste of the whip, I'm afraid.
Ted
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>> nowhere to give them a taste of the whip, I'm afraid.
Tsk. You've got to be joking. There's nowhere, nowhere at all, where you can't let rip albeit for short controlled moments. Of course it costs fuel and wear and may get you noticed.
Why don't I come up there and give the Sheikh a driving lesson in one?
Perhaps with BBD in attendance to supply the stimulants, sitting in a parked foreign-registered Lexus wearing shades... We don't want to risk overdoing it or arousing suspicion among local plod by looking dodgy.
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Pussy Cat driving in London town AC, if you can drive in Manchester or Liverpool, you can drive anywhere in the world...
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Nothing quite compares with Guildford. Most of the streets are steep hills and many of the population are 80 in the shade.
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>> Pussy Cat driving in London town AC,
Heh heh... dahna smoke we yield to none in our arrogant, reckless idiocy, believe you me squire...
To be quite honest though I really couldn't be bothered these days, rusty and all, could make a silly old geezer mistake. I feel more and more like Earl in that beastly Wonga.com series of TV ads, faffing and pointless.
Of course when there's a reason and the spirit moves you, er, .... but that's like fantasizing about shooting someone almost, in a way, dig? A bit psychopathic.
Perhaps one really does grow out of things. Perhaps just going a bit over the limit quite often is all one needs.
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Battery saga - Duncan
