Well,it’s time to put Elsie through her first MOT, thereby keeping our chums at DVLA happy. The MOT due date was 2nd October but we thought we’d get it done a few days early to give us time for any remedial work, should any be needed. Oh Ye of little faith…..
Having spoken to the people from Spitfire Garage of Woolston, Southampton, at the Caravan and Camping show in Romsey a few weekends ago, they enticed us by offering a generous 20% discount on the MOT cost, so we booked in for the morning of Tuesday, 26th September.
Finding Spitfire garage was easy enough,in fact we somehow arrived 30 mins early. There was a constant stream of HGVs coming and going, and lots of building work in the vicinity, so we had to carefully choose a parking spot, where we’d cause the least inconvenience- Elsie’s not up to fighting HGVs. After a short but stressful wait parked up, Spitfire were ready to do the MOT.
Fiona and I wandered off into Woolston. Within a few minutes we found Annie’s Cafe on Portsmouth Road and went in for a sit down. Annie’s was a real find; a spotless cafe where a mug of tea and a mug of coffee cost an amazing £1.60. We quite fancied the full English breakfast with toast, being enjoyed by the guy at the next table. That came in at around £4. Maybe next time, we’ll splash out on breakfast.
We returned to Spitfire Garage within the hour to be told that the van had passed its MOT and they were just finishing off the paperwork, and yes, the bill took into account the 20% discount.
All in all, great service from Spitfire and at Annie’s, so we’ll definitely use them both again.
The A3 was also due an MOT in October, however, on her arrival home from work on Thursday evening, Fiona invited me to hear the grinding noise that was coming from the rear end. The off-side rear brake caliper had seized. Bugger! I managed to get it loose by bouncing it over a small kerb, but the car was not really driveable over any distance in its current condition.
A call to Locks Heath garage early on Friday morning had us leaving the car with them for the day during which time they fitted new rear brake discs and pads and replaced the faulty caliper- we were back on the road again by late afternoon. When I collected the car, they offered to take it back on the following morning for its annual MOT, which thankfully it passed.
Next garage job? To sort out some niggles on Fiona’s MX-5. Then maybe decide whether we really need 3 vehicles.
