Unusual.
First light. We drive over to see the team at the Volvo garage for an update on the dog car. There has been a failure of the gearbox. This has shattered and sent metal through the transmission and the engine. No one has ever seen anything like it. We know this because the manager, the head of the service department, the lady who sold us the car and the chief mechanic all express their surprise. It's so unusual the technical department of the manufacturer is running tests. There is much shrugging of shoulders and theatrical 'oh la la's' in abundance. We are unlikely to see the dog car for another week or so.
Cold this morning. The grass on the ox track covered in dew. Sophie's undercarriage was not designed for long wet grass. By the time we make it back to the lane my canine companion is looking ' bedraggled'. We cover the 400 yards from the storm drain to the front gate at high speed. A quick toweling dry and a carrot sliver soon restores my companions equanimity.
13 comments:
Sophie and the views set me up for the day. Thank you for sharing them. As far as the car is concerned - Bon courage!
Well at least the 'dog car' has provided the staff at the Volvo garage with some probably much needed excitement...Oooh la la indeed!
Reading about Sophie's wet undercarriage reminds me of Bertie's predecessor Hamish the Westie. Bertie's relatively longer legs and his wiry and much less water absorbent furs, mean it's less of a problem with him.
Lovely light in that first photo, as Sophie awaits the excitement of her day. Cherry unfortunately does not share Sophie's enthusiasm for early morning outings. She generally needs to be lured out the door with the promise of a treat and then bolts back for home as quickly as possible so as not to miss the parrot's breakfast time with its promise of tossed scraps. Sometimes, I do not think I have done a very good job of training my dog (although she has clearly done an excellent job of training all of us). It is a lucky thing the dog car was under warranty - sounds very expensive!
Fear not. Experience has taught us that PONs are far too stubborn to be trained. It has taken us 30 years to learn this although we had a pretty good ideas after the first six months. They are however adept at ensuring their 'flock' is trained to do exactly what is required, when required. In this Sophie ranks supreme.
The words excitement and Volvo are not often seen in the same sentence.
Courage may be needed. This has all the makings of a story that will run and run.
How did the Volvo get to the garage? Was it drivable going in? It sounds like it must have been a cataclysmic event. Did you ever see the old TV ads for Maytag, where the repairman was very lonely and bored? I imagined Volvo service to be similar--not much to do besides changing oil. At least you created excitement. They'll undoubtedly be even more excited when you have to pay.
With the Volvo being a month old I'm assuming that it will all be repaired under warranty. A new engine and gearbox can't be cheap. The car had to be winched on to a truck and delivered to the garage. In a sign that there is a God it made it back to The Rickety Old Farmhouse before promptly giving up the ghost. The manager of the dealership managed to ask me what I'd done to the car . This made me every so slightly cross . I pointed to the big Volvo and said that we'd arrived in and pointed out that we'd never had a problem with them before. This closed off , for now at least, that 'trust a foreigner not to know how to drive ' line of argument for him.
Perhaps this calls for a letter to upper management at Headquarters. And in Swedish! Surely you deserve a brand new replacement for a car which essentially blew up within a month of leaving the dealership. The people at the top are never made aware of disasters like this while customers are put in the position of having to accept whatever they must in order to have a functioning vehicle. Raise a stink.
And, to add insult to injury, its made in the town The Fonts family call home
You've really captured the Autumnal feeling today, Angus - the photos are beautiful - especially the second one.
I would have thought that once the problem with the dog car has been assessed, and the amount of repair is found to be excessive, then Volvo would/should replace it with a brand new car. It's not as though you have been racing round the countryside, thrashing the gears and engine! Sophie, I'm sure, will confirm that you have only taken gentle runs, and meandered around the nearby lanes.
One senses we are in for a saga.
Surely there's a law about "Fit for Purpose" sales and swift redress when a problem is clear... ? I'm astounded you weren't given a very good replacement vehicle until yours is either completely replaced, or fixed!
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