Trust the professionals?

In the age of the internet it's not a great idea to be dishonest if you have a business you care about, because sooner or later somebody will moan about it online, and you'll end up with crap on your digital footprint.

Well it's my turn for that moan. This isn't vengeance, it's a short factual story about a Bristol-based used car dealership called Automotive Solutions, and their 'sister' company, Edwards Car Care, that were dishonest to me.

I bought a used car off these guys. When I bought it, I asked specifically about a known problem to do with water ingress with this type of car, and whether it had had the fix done to it. I was told it had. Within a couple of weeks it became obvious it hadn't - it rained hard and the footwells were full of water, which just so happens to be the place where the computer that controls pretty much everything sits.

So, I took it back and within a day or two they had done 'the fix' and dried out the carpets. Now 'the fix' I refer to is a well documented directive from VW - it involves buying a new gasket strip for £10, and fitting it beneath a pollen filter inlet. The labour is probably about an hour.

When I picked up the car I inspected the work and noticed what looked like silicone sealant around the area in question. I was told they used this as a 'belt and braces' approach and had installed the correct gasket. I left satisfied.

Roll on two years...and things start going wrong with the car. I suspect water ingress, and sure enough after lifting the carpets I find the loom and the CCU (the computer for lots of stuff) is wet. This time I tackle the problem myself. I buy the correct £10 from VW, and start work. This is what I found:

So, what do we see here? This is a cowboy job. They didn't buy a new gasket at all. They couldn't be bothered to spend £10 on the proper part. Instead, they rammed the whole thing with silicone sealant - a hope-and-pray approach that was destined to be a short-term fix. In the first photo you can see the inner sponge gasket completely covered in silicone, and the outer gasket with a complete section missing along the bottom edge. The lower photo shows the gasket removed.

And the funny thing is they didn't save any time doing this - in fact it probably took them longer - you still have to remove the wipers, scuttle and pollen filter, and then refit. So the only reason for doing this is to avoid spending a tenner. And all this risked very expensive damage to my car.

Edwards Car Care website says:

"Edwards Car Care is a well respected garage, with many satisfied customers in the Clifton area of Bristol. Our professional, reliable mechanics and technicians and state-of-the-art equipment allow us to undertake any sort of work on all makes and models of cars."

Perhaps I was given the trainee? Perhaps they were having a bad day? Perhaps they think silicone was an appropriate fix, and lying was acceptable? Either way, from now on, if you Google 'Automotive Solutions Bristol', or 'Edwards Car Care' you may just see this story, and wonder if this is a business you can really trust.

I don't trust them at all. My car allegedly came with a new cambelt courtesy of Edwards Car Care. After this experience should I believe it?

Fender gone

Removed all the rubbish from the back of the back - lights. saddle, bags, saddles, rear fender. All that remains is the metal subframe which I'll chop off at a later date.

Shed some weight and tat

First step with the Honda was to remove some bits that I don't want and put them on ebay.

Things like this crash bar:

And the solid wheel covers, sissy bar and other small odds and ends. I also binned the saddle bags, the rear fender, some tassles and eagles. In total I made over £100 and shaved several kilos off the weight.

Honda Shadow VT600 bobber project

I've bought a running but slightly neglected Honda Shadow VT600 with the intent of turning it into an old-skool bobber. When I bought it it looked like this:

And the plan is to strip it down and make it look a little more like this:

I don't have a garage so work on it will be weather-dependent, and with three young kids time isn't particularly abundant, so this is going to take some time.

Crash!

Came off this morning in the wet. Was filtering slowly in Bristol centre when someone decided to switch lanes without checking their mirrors. I had to brake hard to avoid a collision, but unfortunately I was on wet painted lines, so lost the front end and ended up on the floor.

Almost effortlessly I was back on my feet shouting at the driver, part in anger and part in shock. He was very apologetic. I picked up the scooter and apart from the number plate falling off there was no damage done.