BUYING A USED CAR -OR FOOLS RUSH IN !!

When we first arrived here and were staying with my brother Peter, our first priority was to buy a car so that we could get around. Peter took us to his garage where he had bought his VW Golf, and we were shown a Vauxhall Vectra 2.0 litre sedan which looked good. Took it for a test drive and were impressed. So we bought it for 2100 quid and felt very happy with ourselves.

A couple of days later we drove off to visit John Shapiro about 50 miles away, and on the way back found that the clutch was slipping badly. We took it back to the garage and they agreed to put in a new clutch and lent us a car for the week that it took to be fixed, which we were pleased about.They also put in a new master cylinder at the same time.

All was well, until we developed a decided jumping feeling when starting off in first gear. Fortunately there is a Vauxhall dealer here in Ramsey and they had a look and told me that we needed two new drop links.So that was done and another 140 quid passed over. Then a few weeks later I decided to replace the front left tyre which was looking a bit weary and as the spare was very ordinary we asked that the old front tyre be put on the spare. Great - new tyre 35 quid, and then we found that the spare wheel was buckled and the tyre could not be replaced, so a new wheel for another 55 quid.

Driving home from Peterborough a few days later, and thankfully almost home, we found ourselves putting out a smoke screen like an escort destroyer and the car behaved very sullenly. This was caused ,believe it or not ,by a complete abscence of oil in the crankcase. Len had forgotten that older cars need regular checking of oil and water!! The motor was completely cooked and had to be replaced.

So another 2200 quid to instal a new motor and we nearly have a new car! Now today the battery light started flashing on the dashboard and my (by now ) good friends at Vauxhall told me that the alternator was stuffed and was developing more amps than it should which probably means it has stuffed the battery. So now we will have a new alternator and probably a new battery which will make it the most modern 1997 Vauxhall Vectra in England.

I suppose the good news is that we have never had any of the problems develope on the Motorways where it costs 100 quid to get towed off, and at least we had a trouble free week in France!