An MOT Failure and my own car repaired.

Throughout the day there is a constant stream of small vans arriving at the garage delivering parts. It is impossible for a general purpose garage to stock more than the most routine of parts (bulbs, wiper blades, oil etc)

because of the extreme variety of vehicles coming to the garage. Therefore as soon as a vehicle arrives, it is checked over, a required parts list created, customer approval gained and then one of a number of local “just in time” suppliers phoned for the part. A little while later, a van draws up (five today) and the part(s) is delivered into the garage and work continues.

Day 4

Awaiting my arrival was an MOT failure, two tyres, brakes and brake discs. This car was a perfect example of the above parts delivery service in action. We removed the wheels and decided that new tyres, pads and discs were required. Customer approval was gained and within 30 minutes or so, the pads and discs arrived from one supplier and some short time later, the tyres from another. A couple of

hours later the car was repaired and off for an MOT recheck (which it passed).

After lunch, the clutch plate was put back into the lorry (my role again that of nut tightener, and gear box trolley pusher).

Then after another tyre change, it was on to fitting the new air conditioner part into my car.

A new pipe had arrived overnight as a replacement for the suspect pipe, fitting it

was a very fiddly job and following some help with a hard to get at nut, the replacement part was fitted. Nigel decided that the original part had developed micro holes in an area where it was clamped to the car and thus leaked.

It was interesting that the replacement part was now padded in the area where the leak had developed, presumably to protect from wear and tear damage. The system was

recharged – and it worked with cool air coming from the air conditioning vents once more. Again, having exactly the correct tool to get at nuts in very difficult positions was the key to getting the job done.