I'm in the process of writing a tale of how Vauxhall cars make you go bankrupt.
I'll never buy another one as long as I live, what you'll do after reading my tale is up to you.
The following is the last day in the life of my 3 and half year old Vauxhall Corsa. When I have the time I'll post the complete story of continuous breakdowns and the amount of wasted time and energy in order to run my driving school. In the 5 years i have owned Corsas I have had 13 MAJOR under warranty repairs with loses of over £2000 pounds for car hire as I have never let any of MY CUSTOMERS down unlike the manufacturer and it's dealers. Now the drive chain has snapped despite having a new one at 44k miles so the car is worth near its scrap value.
I value my customers and my customers trust me to be there for them. I bought tools to work with and when they did not fit the WORKING BILL I was left to pick up the bills myself. To Vauxhall customers don't matter that much it seems, especially the ones who nurse new drivers to be their potential customers. Why would I ever buy a car from a company that does not give damn about its customers?
28th of January 2010
My day started around 8am with sore tonsils. I don’t like getting up early in the dark and I needed to leave for Gatwick around 10.30.
I had my car booked in for service at 2.30pm. I took a day off because of the Airport run. I’m 35 miles from it. I dropped my passenger off, then drove (or rather attempted to!) drive to Gravesend, Kent (another 40miles but the only courteous Vauxhall service for miles and 17 miles from my house). I discovered them after all the never ending trouble with the same car last year.
On the way back I heard something snap and I lost power, managed to get to hard shoulder on the momentum and then the engine cut out. It was freezing with driving rain. I had long coat, boots, no hat, gloves, but it was not enough to keep me warm on the blooming hard shoulder. I had only about 2 miles to my exit for Gravesend.
Got my RAF waterproof and wind proof jacket out of the boot, jumped behind the barriers then walked to the phone after taking note of my nearest marker. I called RAC on my mobile whilst walking there. 1h wait...lovely hypothermia/ pneumonia or crashed by the roadside...good choices to have. Rang the garage to tell them the car’s broken down. Knowing how fast car fixing is, I rang DIA to see if they had a car for hire...I was in luck. My navy blue RAF coat worked as a tent above my head whilst I crouched on the base remains of a cone trying to keep my toes warm. I have been in the 4k Alps with temperatures around -15-20 and never felt as cold as that. It’s the damp weather in the UK that makes it feel so much colder.
Finally my savoir arrived, with a warm truck. He said he put the heating on for me on full blast, bless.
We were in the garage at 2pm, so before the time due. My car still had not been diagnosed by 6pm.
As it was being booked in, I wasted no time and organised the car hire, and was trying to sort out insurance.
So now I need to get home to get my motorcycle to ride to collect the car. I asked for a taxi, it’s that or I won’t make it to Croydon by 5pm.
The 17 miles taxi ride and not even 30min was £35! It’s good to know as a comparison to our lesson prices. Home at last. Croydon’s next.
If anyone knows this area the drive/ ride from SE London to Croydon is an absolute nightmare. Continuous traffic, it can only be done in 1h on the bike . I did not ride my bike since September, but I was charging the battery for a while, so it started first time. Getting all the winter gear on takes time, getting every bit of paperwork needed, finalising the insurance, so it’s printed and ready when I get there, it all takes time. Tyres needed pumping too. I finally left the house at 3.30 the beginning of a rush hour, 22 miles to go. I had moments where the car’s lane disciplines were such that I wanted to use the pavement, but stopped myself. Half way there I had to stop to switch on my electrically heated gloves because my hands started to become very cold (I was born to ride in the sun), and there’s no precision with freezing hands. My chest was cold too, but I did not have time for plastic bags under my leathers and had to bare it. Skiing underwear is not adequate for biking in the winter and no high tech gear works as well as a 5p plastic bag to keep your chest wind proof.
Finally I got there at 4.30, left in a Pug 207 at 5pm.
to be continued...