On the Road Again!

Well, new to us anyway.  We had a look but during the pandemic it was difficult to get test drives. Even so we visited our local Nissan dealer after some Googling different makes and models, and got the test drive we needed. I had a look at the Toyota C-HR hybrid that my brother has and whilst the prices were around our budget the mileages were all over 24000!  I don't have much confidence in the battery situation! My brother has his serviced every year and they warranty the battery. It was a surprise when the Nissan dealer offered us part-exchange on both the Insignia and the Corsa against the Juke. The total package means we need to raid the piggy banks for £10000!   With WFH I am not using the Insignia very much. In fact the last year with the pandemic and all I managed only 3379 miles between MoT tests. That was February 1st 2020 to February 3rd 2021. Usually we do between 7000 and 8000. They are getting a good deal as both cars were serviced in February under th...

So rather than waste my time with the dbPower unit I decided to call the RAC.  We buy their breakdown insurance most years and it's not as though we use them very often. The technician arrived just before 11am and I gave him the details.  He connected all his gear and the battery was showing about 5.5 volts.  My dbPower is 600 amps and with his 800 amp charger connected it the electrics worked but there wasn't enough to turn the engine over.   So with it connected to the van it started okay first time.  The computer went through its checks and showed that the battery was about 12.8 volts. The charging system was working fine, it just looks as though the battery had well and truly had it. As we stood there looking at the display it was discharging and way below 11 volts when we disconnected the computer. He had one on the van and although it cost a little more than maybe at a local dealers or car parts place, it wasn't too bad. Plus ...

Our expedition to Hythe was delayed as the car, my car, was as dead as a dodo. At first I thought the battery had run flat in the key fob. When it didn't work with the spare it was obvious a bigger problem. It was too late to do much about it. With a total shutdown where even the door locks don't work I guess it's a battery problem.  With the key in the ignition it was completely dead as well. I have charged up the dbPower unit and will see if it puts some power in it in the morning.

When it comes to MoT time, unless you have a fantastic car or motorcycle, then there is always that heart in mouth when it goes in to test. Even when you know there is nothing wrong, or assume, as it drives, steers, stops, starts, brakes properly that there might be something it will fail on......  Today is that day for me. The car is at Caffyns in Ashford for the MoT and service.  It will be there all day I expect. I asked for it to be ready for around 3pm in the hope that it would be ready before the evening rush hour starts, My Insignia is what I call a bump-magnet.  It has three corners where someone else has been so crap at parking in the marked spaces in car-parks that they have made some contact.  If I was that shit as a driver, then I would accept it and at least leave a note to say I had bumped into another car and caused damage. Sadly the drivers of Folkestone and Hythe prang your car and piss off.  What a way to live your lives eh?  Dishonest sku...

I had my renewal email yesterday and I didn't look at it. It's gone up by £4.24 over last year to £194.61. I logged into the comparison sites and the best I could get was £194.44. It's not worth changing for 17p!! So RIAS get another year of my money. 

The hunt for that elusive holy grail of 50mpg still goes on. See Even a 500+ mile mostly motorway and mostly 60 to 65mph cruise with cruise control on for miles and miles couldn't do it. Maybe it's simply unattainable.

It was booked in for 8am and so given the "limp mode" situation, I set off at 7.20am. The plan was to take the A20 but as I left Hythe the "road closed" signs were still up on London Road and so I had to go through Saltwood.  As a result I ended up on the M20. On two hills out of Hythe I was down to 8mph on one and I managed 10 on the other,  flat out. Once on the motorway I got up to 45mph. As there are long term roadworks to build a new junction that wasn't a problem. It turns out that the problem was that the pipe to the turbo had split. Parts came to about £240 and labour even more. With VAT added, the bill came to £670.03 Gulp. At least it is back. * I had no ideal that "limp mode" was a real thing!

The day before we are due to set off on holiday, this pops up. Oddly, a few days before we went in holiday last year it threw the timing belt and me and the RAC man managed to get it back on. My neighbour John has a garage and they checked it over. Just in time. Of course it's not due a service. Only having done 4000 miles since it was done in February. I rang Caffyns and they say it is not only that but they need to see it. I have it booked in on August 12th when we get back from Devon. Luckily we have Claire's Corsa. It's much smaller but we will have to see that we can squeeze in. posted from Bloggeroid

When the Insignia had its MoT in February the test showed that apparently my front brakes were at 80% worn.  I've not had them done in the five years I have owned it so I thought that the remaining 20% should last another year. As we are having a staycation this year with a thousand miles of driving (approx) I decided to get them done. Dropped it off at Fairways in Dymchurch and they are done. I could do them for myself and have done over the years but I'm sure Claire feels safer with it done professionally!    

Clipped over on the way home from work. 40000 since I bought the Insignia in January 2014.

Since I bought the Insignia four years ago I have put 34000 miles on the clock. Apart from an annual service and tyres both end (once) and a new battery in Jan 18, it's not been too much of a problem. A broken spring after some Scottish potholes of monumental depth is about it. Forget about the local Kent drivers who on FOUR occasions have managed to run into it... Last evening I got home from dog walking, following Claire into the drive. The coolant light has been on for a few days and I guess that the level was low. On checking I could see it was about 2mm below the max line. I topped it up with about 200ml of clean tap water and that took it to the line. Dipped the oil and that was okay. To check the light and warning panel was off I started the engine. The steering wheel was stiff. The aircon was on but nothing came out of the vents. Then the warning lights for battery and charging all came on. I turned off. Like all good chaps I googled th...

Battery I hope. Trouble is when these things happen on a Sunday we are still pretty much screwed here. Luckily I have the portable power pack to revive Pepé between rides and that started it, if a little sluggishly, earlier today. I have booked it online at a local autocentre where they will fit a new one and dispose of the old one. All for a price a little less than a few where I could DiY and then have to get rid of the old one. But. That isn't until Tuesday. So tomorrow my run to the station will have to be after boosting it again. Getting it fired up took the power pack down to 73%.  Hopefully it will be okay to get to work and back home again. At this rate I may take it to work and charge it there to ensure 100% for an evening start. Fingers crossed. Update 08/01/18 Came out this morning. Luckily no frost or ice. Flipped the bonnet/hood and attached the dbpower unit. Switched on. Jumped in drivers seat. Turned key. Sweet f.a. Checked connec...

It's getting on for that time of year again when my car insurance is due. I used to be with Direct Line but the quote gory higher and higher every year and so I started trawling the comparison sites to get a better quote. Last year this turned out to be the insurers that sell under the banner of the RAC motoring organisation.  They had the cover I wanted and although not the cheapest quote, were the cheapest of the companies I had ever heard of. This year my renewal arrived and they quite matter of factly tell me that this year my premium will go up £50.  The car is a year older and therefore less valuable.  The risk hasn't changed much. So it is back to the comparison sites. What has really happened is that premium last year was a new business discounted amount. This year they are trying to get some of it back. Sadly for them I will go elsewhere.

In "Car Poorly" ( http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/car-poorly.html ) I mentioned the Insignia was unable to take us on the France trip as the rear spring was broken. I was advised that long journeys were out of the question but taking it gently to the station was okay. So that's what we did. The French trip was undertaken in Claire's Corsa and very economical it was too. It was booked in Caffyns at Ashford a few weeks later and they did the list of repairs including both rear springs to keep them matched and the mud flap and wheel arch liner. With some trepidation I went to collect it, expecting a bill nearing four figures and found myself relieved that the bill was just, I say just, £475!  Still a lot of money but way less than I was expecting especially after they called me to say the problem I was having with the electronic hand (parking) brake was due to pads almost to the metal.  So fingers crossed.

The Insignia suffered a little damage when I dropped off the edge of a Scottish narrow road. The front left mudflap hit the ground at the bottom and the upward force pulled the inner wing off its mounts and the tyre wore a hole in it. Even though I pushed it all back the damage was done.  I pulled the flap off and whilst it seemed okay it needed fixing properly. I booked it in to the Vauxhall dealers yesterday and they checked it out. Not too bad. No serious damage. Then they gave it a test ride and checked the rear brakes. They showed them to me and I saw the pads are a bit close to being worn out, so I said do them at the same time. Then we noticed that one of the rear springs was broken!  The strut is okay but the spring is actually broken. To be honest I never noticed any handling problems. It needs replacing too. So it is booked in for the 18th September to be done.  £££££££! I can drive it for local journeys where there are no big bumps that might c...

Insignia Not the most economical use for a car. Drive to the station every day and leave it parked up. Still. Could be worse. Might be using the scooter in this freezing miserable weather.

The new car.   After a couple of test drives of cars I liked the look of, and a look at some I liked but discarded once I had seen them, I bought a Vauxhall Insignia. I wanted something that will last a while and so wanted relatively low mileage, added to economy as well. So I chose the diesel engined model, plumping for a 2011 registered SRi CDTi 2.0 litre model. I looked at a few but this one has only 24200 on the clock, is a colour I liked and was at the price level I wanted to pay. Insurance until September 17th when my current policy expires was an additional £45 of which £15 was admin fee. At Home  In Hythe  In Hythe