So, the March car... Well, i can honestly say without fear of
contraception er, contradiction that the March car didn't go smoothly! As promised by my insurer at the end of February that they wouldn't continue to insure my car if i changed it again! I thought i'd try my luck and see if they would, but no, they stuck to their word. Fair enough, they probably don't need my money anyway. I eventually managed to get a part time traders policy as long as i promised to sell atleast eight cars in a year! Hopefully that won't be too hard I honestly wish i found about about this way of insuring my cars sooner, as i now have all my cars covered, for less than the price that it cost me to insure my Ford Ranger pick up.
Such a great, and handy truck that was, i sure do miss it, still, never mind, onwards and upwards and all that, and on that note, here's the March car.
I'm guessing theres a few of you reading who are thinking, which one? Or, thats not very Retro is it? Well, here's my explanation. I had planned a trip to Germany in April, and i wanted something big enough to carry three adults, two children, all our luggage, and possibly tow a car transporter trailer home. Sure, i could've taken the Talbot, but it's only got four seatbelts, and i thought that it wouldn't be the most comfortable car to take us on such a long trip, plus, what would the Polizei think if they saw it dragging a car transporter trailer My feeling is they probably wouldn't be that impressed. I could've taken my Mustang, but again, only four seats, and no tow bar. So I decided in my wisdom or otherwise that the way forward was to buy a Jaguar X-type estate. Now, by all accounts if you travel across Europe in your car you're supposed to carry amoungst other things all your documents with you including your driving license, insurance, and V5c etc. Knowing this I bought the Jaguar very early on in February to give the DVLA time to get the documents back to me. About four weeks after buying the Jaguar i still hadn't received the documents so i went online to see what i should do, the advice on the DVLA website was that it could take up to six weeks to get the documents and not to bother contacting them until after the six weeks were up. I thought fair enough, and hoped that they would arrive ontime as i still had just over three weeks until i was planning to go. A couple of days before i was planning to go, i still didn't have the documents, i was starting to get a bit concerned, but i thought not to worry, i'll cross my fingers, go for it, and hope i don't get stopped! However, i was talking to my Dad and Brother about it all, and their advise was to phone the DVLA. So i sat there on hold to the DVLA thinking to myself, quick, hang up before someone answers. Unfortunately for me, someone answered... curse word! Against my better judgement, i told the person at the DVLA, who incidentally sounded like a 12 year old boy with a bit of a little Hitler complex what my predicament was. I told him that i was planning to go to Germany in a car that i'd bought nearly two months previously, but i needed the V5c. His response was that the previous owner, had not yet sent the documents in!! WHAT?! He then said that i couldn't take it without them! I said that i had the new keepers supplement. He said that it didn't matter, as i needed the full document! So then i said, that i had no choice, everything was booked, and i was going to go for it! To which he replied that i couldn't, because it was illegal!! It wasn't illegal, said I, but he then butted in, and said that car theft is a
SERIOUS crime! Honestly, i felt like i was being told off by a school boy! So I told him that i hadn't stolen a car, and even if i had, in the grand scheme of things car theft is
NOT a serious crime, it's a crime, yes, but not a serious one! By this time i felt he was a bit condesending, and insolent, and frankly he was starting to urinate me off! He then informed me very matter of factly that car theft is a
very serious crime. That was it for me, and probably where it all really started to go shitfaced, so i then interjected, Ok then, imagine this, you come home from your crappy little day job to find that someones murderd your family, and nicked your rubbish little car, which do you consider to be the serious crime? For me, i wouldn't give a hoot about the car! Understandably he wasn't happy about my insubordination, but politely told me that i couldn't take my new car to Germany without the V5c, as i would need it to prove that it wasn't a stolen car that i was taking abroad to sell! By now, thoroughly wee'd off I retorted
I'M TAKIN' IT! His response? No you're not, i am going to report it as a possible stolen vehicle so if you try to take it through the passport control they will stop you, and sieze your car and belongings!?
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!? Are you freakin' kidding me? I've got to hand it to him, that was game, set, and match to the twelve year old with the Hitler complex working at the DVLA! I hung up immediately before my big stupid mouth got me in any more trouble,
and wished i'd followed my inititial plan and just gone for it! So, with just two days before i was planning to go to Germany, and with Wheelsday taking up one of those two days a new plan was needed, and needed fast. I consulted with Mrs. Pistonpopper, whos words of wisdom were that I'd better sort something out quickly, as she would not be cancelling our trip! Ok then, thanks for the help babe.
By chance, about half an hour later i was walking into work i passed a parked car with a for sale sign in the window, it was the silver Vauxhall Omega in the photo with the Jaguar, so, i called the owner up. The owner said that he was looking for about £1000 for it, which for a V6 quite well looked after Omega sounded quite a good price (hopefully). I thought it was pretty tidy and asked if he could meet me, about an hour later we met, had a chat about it, had a quick test drive, and then i handed over £950, as that was as low as he was going to go, and don't forget, with Mrs Pistonpoppers words ringing in my ears, i was desperate for a car. Pretty soon i was on my way home to show a hopefully happy Mrs Pistonpopper the car we would be travelling in! What is that, she said as i pulled up. I said proudly it's a V6 Vauxhall Omega, with oodles of history, and long MOT, and a nearly full tank of go-go juice that we were going to take to Germany.
She said i was an idiot (which is probably true), and what about the V5c. I said to keep everything crossed, besides, what could possibly go wrong? Ha Haaaaaaaaaaa... Famous last words! So then, here's is the March car, incidentally, the documents for the Jaguar arrived while we were away in Germany, and they say that i am the second owner, and that i bought the car in April 2012!! Something a bit iffy there me thinks but more on that saga next month. I know it's a bit of a spoiler, but obviously next months car wil be the Jag, but lets dwell on that later, for now, i present the March car...
MARCH.
2001 Vauxhall Omega 2.6litre V6 Auto. 135956 miles.
Well, i must confess, this isn't the kind of car i would usually track down, however, my Dad bought a new one when they came out in 1994, and i quite liked it. However, my Dad, for reasons best known to himself always tends to buy the poverty model, and this isn't. When i bought it, i took it round to see me Dad who was fairly confused as to why i would buy such a thing, but upon having a go in it, he was quite impressed with the comfort levels, and the extra power that the V6 had over his 2.0litre. He even said that it was nicer than the one he had back in 1994... Wow, 21 years ago! Have they really been around so long?
Anyhoo, first impressions, well, as stated earlier, it had nearly a full tank of go-go juice which i think is a good selling point, so 294 miles after the buying the Omega, here's the obligatory first fill up shot.
This took place somewhere on the E10 in Belgium, and buy now i had plenty of time to give my first impression of life with the Omega, and i like it, it is big, comfy, nice to drive, powerful, i really like it. I juiced it up, and headed off to meet my friends in Köln. 120 miles later i pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, i had now travelled 414 miles that day, and i thought the Omega was going well. As i sat there over dinner telling my friend about my £950 Vauxhall Omega bargain he became interested, and wanted to see it for himself. We wandered out into the car park, and he had a look round it. He told me that he was quite impressed, and infact he had been offered a near identical Opel Omega estate, and had been toying with the idea of having it. He then asked me to start it up, and take him for a little spin in it, BUM... It started up ok, but immediately a selection of idiot lights lit up the dash like a Christmas tree. Still, not to worry, I decided to shut it off, check all the fluids, and start again. So i did that, all the fluids were still where they were when i left good old England, and everything under the bonnet seemed ok, so i started it, and this time i had no idiot lights, phew, we headed off into the night. The next day was spent driving about Köln, and the Omega did this without idiot lights or incident. This pleased me as the following day i had another 305 miles to drive to my friends house in Vilseck. The following day, we jumped into the Omega, flicked the key, and it fired straight up as ever, once again, no idiot lights. By now i was feeling pretty confident that the lights coming on a couple of nights previously was probably due to some sort of small electrical fault, so we headed off to Vilseck. However, forty miles outside of Frankfurt, Oh dear...
On came the idiot lights again, and within about five minutes we coasted to a halt beside the E35. My Brother asked me what was up, and i said that i didn't know, but in my opinion we had possibly run out of electricity. He then got his phone out and started fiddling around with it for a bit. Ever the comedian before we had actually stopped his phone was blearing out Kraftwerks 1974 hit Autobahn which peaked here in Englad at number 11 in the singles charts. (in Germany it did slightly better, which is to be expected, but still only just made it inside the top ten by peaking at number 9) Oh how we laughed! So once we'd listened to all 3 minutes and 28 seconds of this little gem while sitting the other side of the armco on the autobahn we contemplated calling the RAC. I have not been a memeber of the RAC for very long, and i can honestly say that they are utterly rubbish! Sadly, in the last six months i have had to call them twice, both times from Germany, and both times i have been very un-impressed with their service or lack thereof. So, i called them up, gave them my membership number, and tell them i've broken down at N 50.34809° E 8.16778°.
The first thing they said, was exactly what they said first of all the last time i called them, and that was that i didn't European cover. I said, yes i have, i bought your most expensive cover, with every single option. Oh yes, said the voice, so you have, but do you have your confirmation letter with you? What?! No of course not, why would i, i have the membership card with all my details on it, why would i need a letter you sent me seven months ago? Listen, i said, my car is has broken down beside a busy autobahn, i have my Brother with me who is a diabetic, my wife with me, and we have our two little girls with us who are just 10, and 5 years old. Ok said the voice, well there's nothing i can do for you, you'll need to phone the European headquarters in France. OK i said, can you put me through? No, said the voice, here's the number, and he quickly read it to me! Ofcourse foolishly i wasn't ready for that, and didn't have a pen and paper to hand, so i asked him to repeat it to me once i'd got something to jot it down on. He did repeat it, but with all the attitude of a stroppy teenager! So then we tried to call this number, now for some reason our phones wouldn't let us dial an international number from our current location, so we called the RAC back, and explained the situation, and asked if they could help us? No came the reply, you need to call the European assist number for help, do you have the number. Yes i do i said, but i cannot call a European number from my phone in Europe for some reason, if we could, i'd be talking to them, and not you, could you put me through please? Sorry, came the reply, i don't think we can do that!! While this was going on my brother was busily trying to work out how to call the European number, and eventually he managed it. By now, we had been sitting by the autobahn for a couple of hours, and i was starting to get pretty cheesed off to say the least, and i could feel another outburst coming on that might not help the person on the other end of the phone to want to help us quickly. Realising that my big stoopid mouth was probably about to get us in trouble, i elected my Brother, who is far more diplomatic than i am when dealing with idiots deal with the conversation with the European branch of the RAC, and i sat quietly rocking in a corner!
So, he calls the European branch of the RAC up, tells them our location, and what we think the problem is. Ok says the polite French lady, we'll get something sorted. A couple more hours go by, and now we were all getting pretty hungry, and my kids were getting bored. Still no tow truck, then the phone rings, it's the RAC asking have we been picked up yet? No i said, and we've been here for over four hours now! I'm guessing that you're all probably very busy, but i've got two small children here, and a diabetic adult who is going to need to eat something soon. Ok says the voice, i'll get someone on it. Three hours later, the European branch call to ask if we've been picked up yet, I told her we hadn't, and that now we'd been there seven hours, and luckily for us, we had food with us, so we'd eaten, but i was still pretty ticked off. OK she says, someone will be with you very soon, and half an hour later...
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Finally, we're picked up! To be fair to the recovery driver, he said they only knew about the breakdown for about an hour, and they had been trying to organise a garage to take it to so that the fault could be diagnosed, and repaired. We were taken about 7 miles to a beautiful little town called Bad Camberg, where the local Opel dealer, Auto Müller GmbH on Frankfurter Str. 102, 65520 had stayed open late in order to receive my stricken Omega. The owner then asked me to call him in the morning, and they would let me know when it would be ready for collection.
The recovery driver then took us all to a little hotel in the town called Hotel Taunus, which is at Caspar-Hofmann-Platz 2, D-65520 Bad Camberg. Honestly, it was very nice, and the owners were really helpful. I would recommend it as a nice place to visit, and to be honest, it was a lovely little hotel, in a lovely little town. If we didn't have other places to go, i'd have been happy to have stayed a while longer. Anyway, we were relieved of about 200€ (about £144 in proper money) for a couple of rooms, and breakfast for five of us in the morning, which i didn't think was too bad. Besides, as i remember according to my RAC policy, if the car can't be fixed there and then, and we need to stay in a hotel i believe my policy covers it. As suspected the Omega had indeed run out of electricity, and would need a shiny new alternator. Having said that, the Opel dealer said they had an alternator on the shelf, and if the RAC had got us picked up sooner, it would've been fitted that day, and we'd have been on our way! In the morning i called the Opel dealership who told me the Omega would be ready for collection at 15:00hrs, and parts and labour came to just under 400€ (again, in proper money that's about £288). So we went down, paid him the 400€ in cash because for some reason none of our cards don't seem to work in some places in Germany, and picked up the Omega complete with it's new alternator. Here's a pic of the shiny new alternator.
My Brother and I then drove it back to the hotel, picked up Mrs Pistonpopper and the Pistonpoppetts, flung our luggage in the cavernous bootspace, and once again hit the autobahn. Just as well have a photo of the Omega outside the lovely hotel too!
Before hitting the autobahn again for the final 217 miles to get to our friends in Vilseck i decided to treat my little family to a no expense spared lunch of currywürst at the local Imbiss. As we sat there reflecting on the events of the last couple of days we decided that it wasn't all bad breaking down, as we had visited Bad Camberg which we all thought was lovely. However, we all thought that the treatment of a so-called professional outfit like the RAC was extremely shoddy! I asked my kids what they thought of the trip so far, and the ten year old thinks that its like living an episode of Top Gear, and my five year old just said, never a dull moment Dad! The rest of the trip went without hitch, and the Omega performed and drove very well, here's a photo i took of it reflected in a building window while i was blezzing through Brussells looking for some sprouts.
although of course i still wasn't able to recover my trailer that the RAC initially said they would recover nearly six months ago, but thats a tale for another time...
and wished i'd followed my inititial plan and just gone for it! So, with just two days before i was planning to go to Germany, and with Wheelsday taking up one of those two days a new plan was needed, and needed fast. I consulted with Mrs. Pistonpopper, whos words of wisdom were that I'd better sort something out quickly, as she would not be cancelling our trip! Ok then, thanks for the help babe.
She said i was an idiot (which is probably true), and what about the V5c. I said to keep everything crossed, besides, what could possibly go wrong? Ha Haaaaaaaaaaa... Famous last words! So then, here's is the March car, incidentally, the documents for the Jaguar arrived while we were away in Germany, and they say that i am the second owner, and that i bought the car in April 2012!! Something a bit iffy there me thinks but more on that saga next month. I know it's a bit of a spoiler, but obviously next months car wil be the Jag, but lets dwell on that later, for now, i present the March car...
