JeremyP's Blog

Monday

On my way to a customer, the rear nearside break started to make grating noises as though there were no pads in the calipers. Furthermore, the EMS said "service in 600 miles". Time to get the car serviced, I thought. It was a bit of a rush job, but I managed to get the car booked in to Reading Audi for Thursday.

Thursday

At lunch time the service man from Reading Audi rang me up to say that there was some work required on the car and did I have a pen and paper handy. Nobody from any garage has ever asked me that before so I knew it was serious. The extent of the damage was:

• Front brake pads were finished, front discs below minimum thickness


• Rear brake pads more than finished, rear discs below minimum thickness


• Front anti-rollbar cracked


• Cam belt needed replacing (80,000 miles)


• Wiper blades needed replacing

All of that, together with the service (a big one) cost me a cool £1,690. That's right: one thousand six hundred and ninety of your finest English pounds, or rather my finest English pounds.

I did get a free valet.

Friday

It's 6.30am and I'm about to leave home to go to Nottingham. When I turn on the engine it sounds like a biscuit tin being rattled with a lot of ball bearings inside. Not only that, but the funny yellow light that nobody knows what it is meant to be but is probably quite serious is on. I abort my trip to Nottingham and revisit Reading Audi instead.

And here I sit waiting drinking Audi coffee and waiting for them to fit the cam belt properly.