Had myself a bit of an adventure yesterday as i went down to pick up the Type S i had bought.
19 hour total journey time & a bit of drama in between. i arrived home pretty exhausted.
First off was a 5:45 alarm call then train into Glasgow.
6:50 train to Peterborough
12:41 train to Norwich
everything was running to clockwork until this point.
Then i get a call while i am on the train to tell me the car won't start & it's not holding a charge. A new battery is ordered but will it be there when i arrive??
Guy meets me at the station driving the Lude- good news
Drive the car back to his garage & all seems well with steering/gearchange/engine
The fuel warning light is on, but there is a petrol station around the corner from the garage i am told. We pass it on the way back to his garage, a big queue has formed outside it.
When we arrive back at the garage the guys girlfriend arrives & says all the petrol stations are running out of petrol as everyone is filling their tanks. I am getting a bit worried i wont get any gas for the journey home!
Back at the garage for a closer inspection, bodywork isn't a patch on my SiR. I know i just spent 16 hrs detailing it but i guess i was expecting better. Still, i tell myself it's purely cosmetic & easily rectified. Trim is pretty bad, but again, fixable.
Car is pretty dirty inside as the guy is a mechanic, but i know this can be sorted. Seats are in good condition though!
Hand over the cash, drive away
Now the problems start!
As i reach the petrol station the owner is putting cones out in front of the pumps, no petrol left. Now i am in a strange area, no idea where i can go to get petrol & the owner guy says all the other local stations have ran out too
Plan to head to the main roads/motorway & hope i have enough petrol to get to the first service station.
Then realise i have forgotten the cradle for charging the phone which is doubling as my satnav
satnav finally connects & i head for home. 400 miles, projected time midnight!
as i head up the road there is a Sainsbury's, and it has petrol
It also has a massive queue. So i join it & after 30 mins fill her up. Phewww!All is good in the world for about an hour then i realise the phone battery is getting low. Really just need it to get me to the main routes then i should be able to wing it from there.
My new plan is to stop somewhere, use google maps & write down the route i have to follow to preserve battery. I also need to call my folks to let them know i am ok
So as i approach the main junction the satnav stalls. nooooooooo! I have to make a quick choice, 2nd or 3rd exit. I take 2nd but after a few miles i reckon i have taken the wrong turn. Iam using the sun as my compass at this point
Still in a rage with myself & satnav so forget to stop to write down the rest of the route, and you guessed it, the battery fails Stop at a place & ask a guy who gives me some quite difficult directions but assures me this is the best way. Follow his advice which turns out to be pretty good but now am travelling up the east coast when i want be on the west coast.
Anyway, follow the sign for "the North" and worry about that later.
Stop at a service station & call my dad. He was worried sick as it was 5 hrs since i last spoke to him & he was giving me pelters, this just got me annoyed so i left without getting his directions
Make it to Scotch Corner. Now i should make it from here. Except i still don't know where i am going
I decide on a cross country route which will keep me awake plus put the car through it's paces
What i havn't factored in at this point is that it is pitch black, i am getting low on fuel, and the next town is 50 miles away
Averaging about 50 miles an hr i get to Jedburgh & manage to get more fuel. Another 50 miles of pitch black twisties before i reach Edinburgh
Noticing that the car is pulling to left a bit instead of straight. Hopefully just a tracking issue. Brakes are shuddering a bit with big stops so looks like warped discs
Fixable
Reach Edinburgh & its plain sailing from here back to Glasgow.
Arrive home at 12:20 am after travelling 461 miles
No this is not the end
Get up fresh in the morning to get stuck into the car.
Immediately notice the front lip is stone chipped to hell. How did i not notice this yesterday? Wait a minute, its not even a genuine Motegi kit
On closer inspection the whole body kit is a bit shoddy
Take the car for a spin/wash. Certainly pulls strongly enough, feels like all the horses are there.Get to the corners, expect the ATTS to blow me away but feel a bit underwhelmed. Doesn't feel like much. Suspect in fact that it is not working!
Get the car home, remove clocks, to find ATTS bulb removed
Replace bulb and it remains on at position 2.
Do the paperclip test, 3 codes flash up.
Try the reset procedure, only 1 code remains: code 61 Left Oil Pressure.
Dis-heartened i lock the door & head in for the first proper meal in 2 days
From the excitement of earlier in the week to here, i feel gutted
When you get it sorted, you'll love it