In my last posting, 17th May, I mentioned how I'd managed to spend a small fortune getting a new clutch fitted to my car, and the 'lost days' that occurred because of using 'Mr Clutch' in Bletchley to do that job... Well, within a week of Mr Clutch repairing the broken exhaust (which they caused), I heard 'orrible graunching noises coming from the engine / driveshafts / front wheels...whatever!
And we were just about to go on our second holiday - house & cat-sitting for our friends in Sussex. So the day before the hols, I dashed over to my own garage mechanic, (who's original price to fit a new clutch had [then!] seemed too high for me to afford); to plead for him to check-out my car as suitable to still go on holiday!
Bless him, he put my car up on a lift, and, with me looking as well, showed me some of the visible "This is what you get from going to a cheap-skate garage", faults which Mr Clutch gave me free-of-charge whilst jerry-building my clutch! ;-(
Missing bolts, use of exhaust paste to seal the joint between exhaust and catalitic converter (a definite 'no-no' according my mechanic!), and a damaged oil seal on the gearbox, so I'm leaking oil... Deep joy! Deep joy! "So is it safe to go on hols, Martin?" says I. "Should be ok," says he, "but keep your eye on the oil level and put a tin or something underneath so you don't leave an oil-spill on your friend's driveway."
Before leaving, I booked myself in to his schedule for the earliest date he could fit me in to re-do what Mr Clutch did... and put the car into working order... and, yes, I know that'll be another couple-a-hundred quid or more, but I wouldn't trust Mr Clutch to put the car right, even if they accepted that they'd messed it up!!
So once again, today, I'm car-less, as Martin, my mechanic, has my car for repairs... And I'll be approximately £300 quid overspent on a new clutch, which, if I'd had my own garage do it in the first place, I'd not have had wasted days, nor sleepless nights worrying if the car would last the holiday. Moral? If you've got, and used, a good garage mechanic for over 15 years with no problems... don't waste time and money looking for "bargains" when it comes to engine repairs! It's just a good job I'm at "bus-pass" age, so travelling today or tomorrow will be free!
