Some people call it a mid life crisis. Others may call it delusion, temporary insanity... anyway such was my idea that the one thing that would make my life complete would be to once again own an Alfa Romeo. Like I had in the 80s, when life was simple and before Alfa though computerisation was the way to go. Back then, the biggest worry to Alfa ownership was the prospect of them rusting away under your nose.
So to avoid a lengthy epistle, I got Christine in June 2007. She wasn't called Christine then - she was The Bella Sofia, red sexy leather, quick off the mark and dead cool. I loved her in the most indecent way. I bought Prada shoes to match. My Other Half bought me red leather driving gloves. It was bliss.
For two months I zipped about like a smug honey racing to and fro - buzzing up and down the A9 - being fabulous. She was a dream car........ahhhhhhh!
In late September I decided that it was time she got a service and as I was going to be in the Midlands for a week or so, I booked her into a Birmingham main dealer. There was also a niggly noise in the belt area I needed checking. Hers not mine. I delivered her to the dealer and went to Spain for a week, leaving instructions to sort her out. Turned out they knew the car and had a list of previous work. Oddly enough I was reassured by this. Wrongly, as it turned out.
I returned after a week to a bill that would scare you. The noise had apparently emanated from the belt tensioner which had been replaced, along with various other vital components and bizarrely the window mechanism, which had not been broken in the first place, but which they had decided to disconnect and swap with the passenger mechanism. So now only one window opened........hmm. Hey de ho - I parted with the fortune and drove her away.
(It should be noted that the last paragraph refers to two issues which form a thread for the rest of this tale..... tensioner; window mechanism)
So to avoid a lengthy epistle, I got Christine in June 2007. She wasn't called Christine then - she was The Bella Sofia, red sexy leather, quick off the mark and dead cool. I loved her in the most indecent way. I bought Prada shoes to match. My Other Half bought me red leather driving gloves. It was bliss.
For two months I zipped about like a smug honey racing to and fro - buzzing up and down the A9 - being fabulous. She was a dream car........ahhhhhhh!
In late September I decided that it was time she got a service and as I was going to be in the Midlands for a week or so, I booked her into a Birmingham main dealer. There was also a niggly noise in the belt area I needed checking. Hers not mine. I delivered her to the dealer and went to Spain for a week, leaving instructions to sort her out. Turned out they knew the car and had a list of previous work. Oddly enough I was reassured by this. Wrongly, as it turned out.
I returned after a week to a bill that would scare you. The noise had apparently emanated from the belt tensioner which had been replaced, along with various other vital components and bizarrely the window mechanism, which had not been broken in the first place, but which they had decided to disconnect and swap with the passenger mechanism. So now only one window opened........hmm. Hey de ho - I parted with the fortune and drove her away.
(It should be noted that the last paragraph refers to two issues which form a thread for the rest of this tale..... tensioner; window mechanism)
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