Sorry I've not been in touch, folks... I've been preparing for a trip abroad.
I didn't hear anything from them except that the car had arrived and they were looking at it, so I decided to make the 45min detour from a trip to Manchester. At my sneaky best, I thought it best not to announce my arrival, so I could surprise them and see whether the car was parked outside, next to a skip with the windows open. (yes, I'm a paranoid git)
I turned up and they were all really welcoming. The car was sitting comfortably on a ramp in the middle of the garage and they called the guy who was actually working on it. He's called Steve and he's one of the owners and, my goodness, he knew his stuff! In fact, his knowledge (and his friendliness) led me to ask if he'd mind changing the fluid on my Volvo. He was reluctant because they had a few cars booked in, but when I told him I'd owned the car for 16 years and have never changed it, he agreed.
While he was working on it, I was loitering around the Audi. The mechatronic unit had been sent off for diagnosis and, although they were very clear that it could be anything at this stage, they were quietly confident about the mechatronic unit being at fault.
While loitering, I got chatting to a couple of the other guys in the workshop. They were all so nice and really seemed to care about what they were doing. A couple of them commented on my cars and they seemed quite enamoured of both the Audi and the Volvo.
I went out with Steve for the Volvo road test and, even from the passenger seat, I could tell the car was running so much better. Even at 21 years old, the Volvo beat it's previous record by 20 miles and travelled 452 miles on a full tank (and still had some left). On the way back, I found I had to keep dabbing the brake pedal, because I was used to the car slowing far more quickly when I took my foot off the gas pedal. I was amazed by the care he took in doing just a simple fluid change and if they look after the Audi half as well, she's in really good hands.
I couldn't resist snapping a quick picture of both my cars on ramps...
