Got the car back today. I have to say she's looking & feeling very spritely.
The bumper respray ended up costing £200, compared with £140 last year, but that's because they had to sand back the gouge, fill it and then flat it down again. It's another fab job they've done. Let's hope I take better care of it this time around.
The car itself feels a lot tighter & smoother than it did. Dunno why, cos all it's had mechanically is an oil & filter change, new plugs & air filter, & the brakes have been cleaned. I guess the performance drops off in gradual steps over the year & you don't notice it until it's pepped up again. Either that or the sachet of windscreen washer fluid really does have magical properties.
The saga with the door handle spring was the most expensive attempt to save money I have ever achieved. If I had known a complete handle assembly only cost £18 ( & let's face it, even I can manage to loosen & tighten the screws that secure THAT baby to the door card), something tells me I wouldn't have paid the garage an hour's labour to try fit a new spring to the old handle, break the spindle, order a new assembly, and wait 24 hours for it to arrive, during which time the car is unuseable because the driver's door won't close.
Still, none of that matters now. I may be £490 poorer, but the car is back where it belongs. I will take some pics of the parking sensors over the weekend & post 'em up for Kevint & RasA4. I will also remove the boot badges, clean all the gunk off the paintwork with the missus' nail-varnish remover (much more effective than white spirit) , and then fit the news one I picked up on Ebay last weekend for £1 each.
And then......I will take a run down the A20 into deepest Kent, and NAIL THE BEAUTY!!!!!!!!
The bumper respray ended up costing £200, compared with £140 last year, but that's because they had to sand back the gouge, fill it and then flat it down again. It's another fab job they've done. Let's hope I take better care of it this time around.
The car itself feels a lot tighter & smoother than it did. Dunno why, cos all it's had mechanically is an oil & filter change, new plugs & air filter, & the brakes have been cleaned. I guess the performance drops off in gradual steps over the year & you don't notice it until it's pepped up again. Either that or the sachet of windscreen washer fluid really does have magical properties.
The saga with the door handle spring was the most expensive attempt to save money I have ever achieved. If I had known a complete handle assembly only cost £18 ( & let's face it, even I can manage to loosen & tighten the screws that secure THAT baby to the door card), something tells me I wouldn't have paid the garage an hour's labour to try fit a new spring to the old handle, break the spindle, order a new assembly, and wait 24 hours for it to arrive, during which time the car is unuseable because the driver's door won't close.
Still, none of that matters now. I may be £490 poorer, but the car is back where it belongs. I will take some pics of the parking sensors over the weekend & post 'em up for Kevint & RasA4. I will also remove the boot badges, clean all the gunk off the paintwork with the missus' nail-varnish remover (much more effective than white spirit) , and then fit the news one I picked up on Ebay last weekend for £1 each.
And then......I will take a run down the A20 into deepest Kent, and NAIL THE BEAUTY!!!!!!!!