The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret

The other driver is admitting full liability. Hooray!

New car!



It's lovely, drives well, nice to sit in, good high seat with plenty of leg/head room, etc etc.

Unfortunately, when I went to drop off some kit at cuthrose's place, I noticed that the side lights weren't working. No problem, thought I, the headlights are fine, I don't need side lights right now.

I also noted that nothing on the dashboard illuminated. Hmm, thought I, mayhap nothing lights up on this one, it's not like there are all that many controls. (The main dash readout is a big bright digital display that is always lit up.)

It wasn't until I reached my destination that I realised there were also no rear lights. Arse, thought I, and spent much of the drive home fretting about being driven into from behind. (I wasn't, though one gentle driver kindly thought to warn me of my disabled lights by flashing his own, brightly, repeatedly. How thoughtful.)

So - long story short - I think something the garage did when they disconnected the integrated radio and fitted my own must have caused a short in that circuit, because apparently the radio is on the same fuse as the non-headlamp lights, and that fuse was distinctly blown. I switched the suspect fuse out for a spare and it blew immediately.

I'm quite narked, but Scott at the garage did give me a three-month warranty covering 'everything' (apparently they would make reservations if I planned to use it to travel from London to Aberdeen daily, but they're quite happy to offer an unconditional warranty for a local commuter like myself), and even if they hadn't I'm pretty sure it was their botch job on the wiring that has caused it so I'd have pretty firm ground for making them damn well fix it. (Also they're a dealership, and I picked it up today, so I'm pretty sure that counts as "not fit for purpose" or whatever.) So I'm going to give them a ring tomorrow and be upset at them.

That is all.

UPDATE: Dropped it off with the dealer at lunchtime and it's all fixed allegedly. Apparently it was something to do with the different wires that go into the back of the stereo, and some Toyota-brand peculiarity - there's three power lines that connect to a stereo, being the Earth, the perpetual preset-preservation power feed, and the ignition-activated actual power. Unbeknownst to the engineer, when the lights are switched on, the Earth changes into the actual power - or the perpetual feed - or something weird and mad. This whole arrangement is probably so the radio knows to dim its lights, or something. Anyway, fixed now, so whatever.

Dropped off my car stereo this lunchtime so the garage could fit it into the Yaris. Apparently this is not so easy as it was with the Honda - because the Yaris stereo is integrated into the dash rather than being a modular unit, making it harder to steal I suppose, so they will need to do some actual re-wiring rather than simply sliding it in. Whether this proves true or not, they're not charging me for the privilege.

So, until Thursday (the garage man is off-duty tomorrow) I am back to the Honda tape player that came with the Accord.

If I were a more paranoid person, I might be concerned that, thus far in the car-purchase transaction, I have handed over £100 and a car stereo and had nothing in return but a scrap of paper.

I've decided to buy a new car!

I say new, it's second hand, five years old, 40K miles and one lady owner.

Green Toyota Yaris 1.3l five-door, and no doubt everyone will have an opinion on this, but I like it. Efficient for the commute, acceptable for the LARP haul, and open to passengers when the need arises. (Though the latter two may be mutually exclusive.) Also it is more of an upright car, the Accord is very low and laid-back and I think it might be bad for my back.

Won't be picking it up until next week some time but I will be dropping the deposit off this evening.

Oh!^[1] Looks like if I use the handy-dandy V11 form that arrived a week or two back, I might not need to get the MOT before I tax it after all.

This strikes me simultaneously as a Good Thing (because people will not be pressured into rushing their MOTs, or letting their tax lapse in order to get their vehicle roadworthy) and Phenomenally Stupid (because people can let their MOT lapse and still be taxed). I guess it's the insurance that's the safety valve in this situation, you still need to be MOT'd to be insured, and you need to be insured to be taxed.

Still, that takes the pressure off me a little.

EDIT: No, never mind, I am a fool.

[1] To the tune of "man-eater" by Nelly Furtado

Car's exhaust started to make horrible rumbling noises on the way home from work last night, so I took it to the Kwik Fit today^[1]. They gave me an exhaust and decided I needed new tyres as well, which I suspect was largely because they are Kwik Fit and their job is to sell people new tyres. Nonetheless, I accepted their kind offer because I am a soft touch.

My car^[2] now has two exhaust pipes. Also I am poor. Still, never mind, eh - that's what credit cards are for.

[1] Following consultation with stsquad, who wandered around the car a bit listening to it and agreed that yes, it was probably the exhaust.
[2] After some deliberation I have named it Tim.