I hate it when my...

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car breaks down!!!

On Friday morning (2am) I was on my way back from playing a gig in Gloucester when my clutch cable decided to snap! Luckily it did it just as I got off the M5 at Worcester South, sheer panic went through me as pedal hit the floor with a loud bang! I was still in motion so I got away with just forcing it into gear and did this all the way back home! Phew...My dad gave me a lift to work later on in the morning - bless him

Fast forward to today, I went to Brooklyn Ford this morning only to be greeted by the most unhelpful person I have ever met at a Ford parts counter. In the past they used take the piss out of me due to all my old Sierra problems (I owned 5 over a 10 year period), however, those guys are no longer there, so I had to contend with this kid instead. He just couldn't be arsed to check the stock records for this part. Eventually I got him to check and there was a cable in Brooklyn Worcester..."I'll order it mate, won't be here till next Wednesday" he said. I was reluctant to thank him but managed to force the word "thanks" from my mouth!

As I left I decided to check out a Motor Factors just down the road and guess what? They had the cable and at under half the price - Ford 25 quid, Factors 11 quid! Thank god I thought and walked home as fast as I could to fit the cable...oh! I also forgot to cancel the order at the Ford garage, the little oink didn't ask my name or address so sod them!

Fitting it was a real b@stard but 2 hours later I was back on the road, the pedal is a little high and some what stiff but I imagine that I'll get used to it! Trouble is that there is no room for pedal adjustment as the clutch plate itself is worn...possibly a millimetre left judging by the lack of adjustment!! LOL!!!

I know that this is a bit off topic but I dreaded getting this sorted and I am real glad that I pulled it all off in a day too. Also managed to get my exhaust and 2 front tyres replaced aswell...

Thanks for reading

 

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Not sure which gives the most grief, cars or PCs (helping you out here mate by dropping in a link).

I used to work for Ford (one of my previous jobs) out in the product development centre in Germany. It was one of the best jobs I ever had.
I tend to buy my cars second hand from a Ford dealer, but to be honest, their standards have really dropped in the last few years. It used to be like getting a new car, now you're lucky if they wash it.

I would however, never buy spares from them or let them service my car. I phoned once to find out how much it would cost to change the standard cassette/radio into a CD player. 400 quid! My first car cost that! Halfords provided me with a CD player and all the bits to fit it for 125.

Mind you, when I worked for the company I used to get 20% discount, so I used to put up with it...

 

Good to hear you got this sorted, Sacha ( and also got to stick one up Ford's condescending little oik as well )

Had a case this week as well - where I had the mis-fortune to run into the back of another car at a T-junction (turned out is was my lawyer - I didn't even consider a no-win, no-fee claim, tho). Smashed my offside headlight and indicator, and was quoted about £50 for the units, new, from one of the local scrappies. Called another that my Dad reminded be about, £17 all in. Was even gonna fit them myself, but it was a p1ss-wet day, and one panel was slightly dented, so I didn't take the risk. Local garage threw them in for a tenner.

Job done - £27 ! Just waiting to hear from my brief, but he has already said he doesn't think it will be much, and is keen to avoid me having to claim on the insurance, and thinks the touch-up to his bumper (Volvo, ffs ! ) will be much less than my excess would be.

Happy days, eh ?

 

Back in the early 1970s, I lived in Las Vegas. At the end of the spring semester it was hotter than heck. I was driving my little VW Bug to school for my oral final in an Astronomy class (as I recall, my subject was "Matter and Antimatter Cosmology"). Halfway to class, the accelerator cable broke. Fortunately, I coasted to a stop near a service station and was able to push the car the rest of the way.

The mechanic agreed to fix the cable and I walked the rest of the way to school. I don't think I was even late and managed to get an "A" in the course.

I hate car troubles. I've got about a million stories on the subject and now that my children are driving, they are collecting stories of their own...about how their old man always has to help them out.

 

Well I'm glad that I got it sorted on Saturday because I was expected to attend a gig with a new band that I'm joining. The gig was in the centre of Birmingham, it was their drummer's last gig and they thought it would be a good idea for me to listen to how the band sounded. Last I thing I wanted to do was to phone them with an excuse that I couldn't attend. Even though my troubles were all true they may have thought I was bullshitting to get out of attending. I really did not want to plant any seeds of doubt on my "reliability" in their heads at such an early stage.

Anyway, the band was great and they went down a storm. Tracks such as "Hey Mickey", Kids in America, Maria and many others really got the crowd going...made me wish I was up there playing...next time it will be me though!!! LOL!!!

Cheers for reading this...