Sorry I haven’t been here for a while - just drifted off, you know how it is, things to see, people to do...
Those of you who have been here from almost the beginning may remember Prospero - my Sept ’09 GTi in Blue Graphite.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=121668.0
He’s been a fantastic car, absolute pride and joy. All-rounder par excellence. I particularly remember one evening, election campaigning in a rural ward, when a very up-market-seeming gent in a very up-market rural house looked at him and said, “are all you SNP people rich?”
Sadly my elderly mother, for whom the ACC was added, died last August. But she loved the car too, and having such a smooth ride meant she got out more than she otherwise might have done in her last couple of years.
Anyway, a week ago it looked like Prospero died too!
He’d had his third service about three weeks previously, just over 30,000 miles, no problems at all. I have to say I’d thought his fuel consumption had been a little poorer than of late for about six weeks, but I could have been imagining that. I’ll update my fuel consumption graph and see how it looks later. I also thought I heard the very occasional misfire, but it was so slight and so infrequent I didn’t even mention it to the garage.
On Monday 4th June I was working (so were most people in Scotland as far as I could see), and I drove to work as usual. No problems. Overtook a couple of cars on the A702, as usual. Parked outside work as usual. Left work about 5.30, and Prospero wouldn’t start. Battery fine, engine turning over, but wouldn’t catch. Wondered if I’d flooded the engine (can you flood a car with a DSG?), and went back inside for 15 minutes just to see. But that didn’t do the trick. Went back to my office and phoned the RAC. The patrolman showed up quite quickly, and he couldn’t get any joy either. The spark plugs were black and oily, but cleaning them made no difference. In the end he said he’d tow me back home, and we agreed he’d leave Prospero in the forecourt of the garage which has looked after him since he was a nipper, and I’d walk the half-mile home.
Next day I phoned Andrew, who runs the garage, and he said he’d been just about to phone me. Looks catastrophic, he said. Looks like you need a new engine.
WHAT???!!!
So Prospero had to be transported (by the RAC but this time they charged me money, £135) to the dealer where I bought him, about 25 miles away, because it was a warranty job. Then the dealer (Verve) said they wanted £65 from me to put the spark plugs back, because Andrew had taken them out in his initial assessment and had thought there was no point putting it all back together. The next two days were spent in to-and-fro between them and Andrew, looking for documentary proof that every drop of oil he’d ever put into Prospero was pukka kosher VW stuff, but eventually he satisfied them that it had all been done by the book.
Meanwhile I’m panicking. This happened on Monday evening, and on Friday evening I was scheduled to drive to Mull for a five-day break. I’d even got my friend added to Prospero’s insurance so we could share the driving. For logistical reasons we couldn’t take her Polo. And nobody was prepared to give me a courtesy car. The garage said they would have done but all theirs were booked up ten days in advance. VW started to arrange a hire car for me then turned round and said that since I’d let Andrew service Prospero and not the dealer (even though he’d done it perfectly), I could whistle for a courtesy car for all they cared. My insurance company didn’t want to know, because I hadn’t had an accident. The RAC offered me one for 24 hours.
Oh great.
In the end I hired a car for the week from Arnold Clark. It’s a Kia that seems to be a shopping trolley with a lawn-mower engine, and it crawls up even little hills in second, but at least it goes and it was only £135 for a week. Plus £15 to get my friend on the insurance. So I’m posting this from Craignure, having spent the day in Tobermory, it’s not all bad.
I heard from Verve today. Andrew was right. Prospero needs a new ENGINE! But they have ordered it and he should be all better by Thursday when I get back from holiday. Something to do with the compressor they said. They will explain all when I collect the car.
But at least they’re not arguing about it being a warranty job.
So here I am, £135 to transport the car, £65 to put four spark plugs back in, £150 for a hire car for a week. What’s that, £350 altogether? Plus a prezzie for the friend who doesn’t know it yet but is going to ferry me to return the hire car and collect Prospero on Thursday. Could be worse, not really high finance, and at least the new engine is under warranty.
But hey, a new ENGINE! In a car less that three years old! Am I the only one who’s encountered this one? And can you imagine the week I spent wondering if Prospero was dead and gone, and if VW were going to disown the warranty completely because Andrew had done the servicing?
Rolfe.
