R.I.P. my Vectra, not me.

[Russ]

I had a Vauxhall Vectra...yes, I know, it's my own fault...

It was a 2.0 140bhp bargain basement vehicle I picked up from a friend who was going to part ex it so I offered her a few extra coffers than the PX value and bingo.

Went well until I took it to a local Vauxhall dealer which is where I think it all started to go wrong. Following the replacement of many parts and an MOT to the tune of £1K...half the value of the car... and numerous trips back to the garage to re-fix the work they bodged in the first place... and once finding a Mc Donald's drive through receipt in the foot well when going to collect it... and having an independent mechanic point out that the exhaust manifold has been fixed with just a single bolt by said dealership... I could go on.

I was then getting the impression the car was feeling a little put out with me being it's owner. My fat hairy @rse in the driver seat was no match for the previous fit young lady's and quite understandably the car continued to 'play up'.

Well yesterday, my car expressed it's own frustration in a very clear fashion. In a final bid to p*ss me off, it decided to loose all grip on a country lane on a right hand corner and skid me across the road into a telegraph pole, which got flattened. The insolent heap of cr*p then span me round into the ditch and flipped me over.

Good news is that the only damage to myself was when I climbed out and put my hand in some stinging nettles. Ouch!

So are some cars like an elderly relative? Can they go a little mad and play up like that? Or is it 'cos we treat them badly?

Either way, I feel lucky I'm able to post today, 'cos if that telegraph pole hadn't collapsed under the impact, or had been a large tree, my legs would have been replaced by the car's engine at an alarming rate, and who knows what would have/could have replaced my more vital organs.

Sorry for waffling on, but perhaps there's a message in it for us all that might just do some good somewhere.

I was lucky to get home last night alive to see my wife and 13 week old daughter, and all because of a bit of slippery country road and a driver who wasn't quite expecting it.

And no amount of humour or light heartedness can hide the fact that I was a lucky fool. Lets not have any unlucky fools out there.

My seat belt, air bag, and crumple zones saved my life, for those who drive older cars without such technology, take it easy.

R.

[Jay (Team Cannonball)]

A lesson for us all there Russ. Hope you are ok.

Its true about cars and personality, my first car a 1L corsa ran for 5 years without so much as a hiccup - it started everytime. The day after I put it up for sale I got an unrepairable puncture (new tyre £50 quid), two days later i drive over a speed bump and the exhaust starts blowing horrificly. Kwikfit must have thought i was a mug (new front and back boxes £150), buying all these new bits for my car but still with the for sale sign in the window. I was only asking for 2 grand for the car and this was getting silly. Anyway finally decide i am going to trade it in for an Alfa 156 with all the bits, and the day i am going to take her to the garage the damn thing wouldn't start. An hours fiddling later and we got her going. I can tell you i did not hang around at the garage i just gave him the cheque, exchanged keys and legged it. I swear it was trying to stop me from selling it.

Cars are funny beasts, one minute they are our friends, next minute they are either bankrupting us or trying to kill us. I tell you we wouldn't put up with it from a woman.

[DavidsDad]

Glad you're OK Russ.  

Yes, we all do daft things now and again, and thanks for your common-sense warning.

May you grow old and see your daughter's children too.  

[BigH]

There but for the grace of God goes us Russ. And Jesus. Little baby Jesus.
I'm heartened to hear you survived, and in one piece as well. There's too many telegraph poles around if you ask me. Mind you, when it comes to replacing vital organs I know a man who lives near Spittlefields (a coincidence, I'm sure) who's a real dab hand. Although I suspect it would tax even his not inconsiderable talents to replace them with road furniture.
If it was up to me I would change the liver for a Give Way sign, bollards for bollocks and a nice traffic light control box instead of an arse.
Although, technically speaking, buttocks aren't organs. What were we talking about again?
H

[Mr Toad]

Did you buy the car from Yes Car Credit? - saw that programme on TV last night - very scary!

[Russ]

No, not through 'Yes' car credit. It was more like 'Nat West Overdraft' Credit.

And despite the shoddy workmanship at the dealership, they didn't touch the wheels or brakes.

What was the jist of the program Mr T. ?

[BigH]

If it makes you feel any better Russ, and well, not such an exception, I ran a Vauxhall for a while, and in my opinion the main dealer staff should be taken out into the desert and tied to to a tree near an anthill. I'd say I've had direct experience of most mechanics scams purely through my Vauxhall days (I suppose I should be glad for the education...), and the smug gits behind the counter don't even apologise when you pull them up on it.
You mention the MacD receipt, I got in my car after one service and it reeked of beer - with a pork pie wrapper on the carpet.
At least your airbag went off and hadn't been replaced by a bag of Salt and Vinegar.

[Ron Jeremy]

glad your ok

but the main dealer service is a good warning

my yonger brother used to work for one in cheshire and even he wouldn't have a car serviced there

he got his car via network q from his employer and there were 30 things wrong with it, working for the dealer he got them all sorted god help the rest of us

[chrisbeatty]

Glad to hear you got yourself out of the car Russ, tis a big wakeup call when you have an accident.

My old man had a Vectra company car once, he had a recurring electrical problem (I think) , took it to a main dealership about 6 times & they never fixed it, one evening it wouldn't start so he called the AA, the patrolman got it going & fixed the electrical problem in a 1/2 hour!!  That said my experience with 3 different MG/Rover garages are no better!! It's enough to make me buy a Seven  

As for yes car credit, jesus wept
If they're still in business next month I'll be worried, these big companies concern me, always out to shaft the customer

[Mr. Invincible Mou]

Glad to hear you are OK as said by the others.

I don't wish to upset you further, but you do realise you will probably get a bill for the flattened telegraph pole.  

However, all is not lost, I believe that Mr Toad was looking for a new flagpole for MB this year, so you may be able to recover some of the cost with a quick sale.  

Veering slightly off subject, a mate of mine once had a vectra estate (the v6 one, can't remeber the engine size). Well credit where credit is due, that car almost impressed us. The engine finally blew whilst doing nearly 155, on the dual carriageway just short of Alencon. Made a right mess all over my windscreen.

You have guessed it, it had literally just come out of a Network Q service the day before we left for LM. On inspection, there were several things wrong, and eventually they had to refund my mate the price of the car plus hire car etc. He now runs a far more sensible Audi RS6 Avant  

[hgb]

I hope you're alright Russ. Sod the Vauxhall, the main thing is you're ok.

However, that story reminds of my old Audi 80. During it's last days in my ownership I tried my very best to get involved into an accident. It never happened. When I got my next car someone drove into it in the first 24 hours I got it.

[Perdu]

Russ, glad you are OK, shame about the Vectra. Hope the insurance covers the telegrah pole. But it might be good burning on the old camp fire, soaked in tar like that.

The main dealers are famous for such dedicated service, not just Vauxhall and Rover either. I live near a rare dealer who services exotic Italian motor cars and have often seen the fruits of their factories labour being used, on test drives, to nip into the shop for fags and butties. Nothing new under the sun.

As an ** patrol I have often had cars break down after leaving the dealership from work done, even when we have sent the cars in. I had a Ren**lt that we sent in to t'dealer for work including the odd problem with a misfire. I had it on a motorway service area with its management light on and a misfire. Using the vixen I found some old fault codes stored that hadn't been wiped at the dealership. I wiped them and the mysterious misfire disappeared too. It looks as if when the ECU reads fault codes it goes into limp home even if the code is spurious.

End of free ad for the ** but I am glad you are OK.


Bill

 

[Rhino]

Beware main dealers, they usually have spotty urchins on bugger all money to do the service.
I was once told by a snap on dealer you should always look at his tool box, if it's nice and shiny they probably care and do a good job.
If it's as battered as Big H's piles run.

[Jem]

Glad you survived Russ, been there myself in 94, I wrapped a 3 series coupe around a tree in the wet.  Since then I've always been nervous of slightly damp roads.

Re main dealer servicing I came to the conclusion a long time ago that it is a scam, it would not surpirse me to find that fault warnings are programmed into cars to happen just to keep dealers in servicing work.

A quick example. Took the car for a service and they told me on picking the car up it needed new pads on the front and new discs and pads on the back......£1000 ish. I said I'd think about it.  Since then I've done 5000 miles and had the breaks checked out elsewhere last week and was told the discs and pads all around were fine. Absolutely scandalous........thats Audi for you.

How about the 7 series I had from new last year, it went back no less than 20 times in 5 months with faults, the gear lever actually fell off twice. in the end I just handed it back and walked away from it.

I bought an RS Turbo Escort years ago, new from a main dealer.  Drove it off the forecourt only to hear thud thud thud after 50 yards.  I returned to the dealer only to be told that they had forgotten to remove the packing pieces from the rear suspension.

Then there was the Sierra Cosworth that the front spoiler fell off.....or the Saab turbo whose turbo blew 2 days before a trip to Le Mans.

I'm getting wound up now so I'll stop !!

Jem

[Snoring Rhino]

Well done Russ for ridding the world of a Vectra, I had a Nice new Cavalier the they forgot to paint the door shuts on, and an SRI which you could not switch off when the Headlamp wiper relay failed!!