I should have kept my mouth shut. Just the other day I said “(Being with BSM,) I like the peace of mind in knowing I can just pick up the phone and instantly get the problem sorted…” (whenever there is a problem with the car). This was after a new pupil had accelerated into the curb, bursting a tyre and denting the wheel. On Monday I called the approved Vauxhall dealer in Inverness to request a new wheel and to book a 20,000 mile service. They could fit me in Wednesday. Perfect.
I went to collect my car, only to find that, although they had done the service (and replaced the brake pads - which they had to get authorisation from BSM for), they had not changed the wheel because it had not yet been ordered. I found it slightly strange that, somewhere in the largest Vauxhall dealer within 100 miles, they did not have a replacement wheel for perhaps their biggest-selling car. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would have hoped that, when I called and asked for a new wheel, after they had a look under the desks and behind the coffee machine for any spare Corsa wheels that may have been hiding, they would have ordered it there and then. Or is that just a bit too radical?
“Well, when will you get one in?”
“”Hopefully next week.” was the reply.
When they started saying ‘hopefully…’ I was expecting ‘this afternoon’ or maybe ‘tomorrow’. Not ‘…next week’!
As you can imagine, since ‘the wheel incident’, I have been a little edgy when I feel that my pupils are getting a little too close to the curb. I may be able to change a wheel, but (without a spare), I certainly cannot teach pupils to drive with only three wheels.
Yesterday afternoon I picked up another new pupil for his first lesson. I drove to Stevenson Road, a nice, straight road with a very quiet roundabout at one end - perfect for practising moving off/stopping and then practising steering. He picked things up very quickly and seemed to have little problem with clutch control, changing gears or steering - fantastic for a first lesson. As we neared the end of the lesson I was backing off the instruction, trying to let him do repetitions of the same ‘loop’ with occasional prompts from me. We turned right at the roundabout then, as he started to accelerate away from the junction he chose the wrong moment to look down at the gearstick. WHAM! We hit the curb. My heart was in my mouth. Luckily, I had just got to the wheel in time; not enough to avoid the curb, but enough make sure it was only a glancing blow, and not full-on. Twice in a few days, I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, an inspection of the wheel revealed that it was fine this time.
At least I don’t have to worry about the wheel, as far as tests are concerned. WRONG! My next pupil on test is Anna, next Tuesday. At least… that was the case until last night, when Glynn called me to ask if I could take him for test today! He had been looking for cancellations so that he might bring his (3rd) test forward and had found two today; one at 9.37am and one at 1.03pm. By pure chance, the 1.03pm slot fitted in perfectly with the only gap in today’s diary, so I said he could go ahead and book it. The wheel is not a problem because it is a proper wheel (not a silly ‘space-saver’ spare wheel), but (without a spare) I made sure I had my foot over the dual brake during the whole of today’s first lesson (with Andrea).
Glynn drove like a dream during his pre-test lesson, but not during his test: He failed to recognize the road markings at the end of a one-way street and, when the examiner asked him to turn right, he did not position himself correctly in the right-hand lane; potentially dangerous if another vehicle turning right had positioned themselves alongside. He was relatively buoyant afterwards, “My oldest sister passed 1st time, my second-oldest sister passed 2nd time and my youngest sister passed 3rd time, so I had a feeling I wouldn’t pass today…. 4th time lucky.” He suggested. Sounds a little like b*ll*cks to me Glynn, but at least you are being positive about your next attempt.
‘Positive’ is not exactly how I would describe my thoughts, as I head back to Ullapool this weekend, on being that far away without a spare wheel.
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