Bloody pot holes!

I've complained about road surfaces before, although that was a specific rant at the Vale of Glamorgan about a certain stretch of road.

This is a more general observation about the state of roads following the recent freezing weather, which seems to have led to an unprecedented number of pot holes in our road system.

It's not just the uncomfortable ride that these result in - I had a puncture last week. First I've had for as long as I can remember, and the puncture was in the side wall - almost certainly I suspect caused by a pothole. There have been three other people with punctures at our work in the last week, and I suspect there are other vehicular woes associated with driving over the tarmac equivalent of the Himalayas.

I heard or saw a report recently about the cost of repairing potholes - it was something like £47 per pothole, so clearly not a cheap job given the millions that must be out there. The suggestion was also that the quality of the stuff they use to fill the bloody things isn't great, meaning they quickly degrade again.

Anyway, the long and short of it is I wish it were different. It's expensive enough motoring now as it is, without having to shell out for repairs caused by crap roads.

Ford update

No-one from Ford (see a couple of posts ago) rang me back. They've had 36 hours to do so. Rang them again today. "Ray's on the phone" I'll get him to phone you back".

He didn't. Getting a bit pissed off by this now.

Hard work

Some times things are harder than they should be.

Before Christmas I took my 3 yr old Mondeo to the local Ford dealer because the car is pulling slightly (sometimes more than slightly) to the left and the steering wheel wasn't centred. When I rang to arrange the appointment, I was grilled to the nth degree about whether I was holding the steering wheel centred which was causing the car to move left. No, it's because it's going left AND the steering wheel isn't centred.

To cut a long story short, took the car in, service couldn't find anything wrong (they don't test drive them these days) and sent it to the bodyshop, where they put it on an Optiflex machine that basically checks the whole alignment of the car. They found some things were out and fixed them (or so they told me when I picked the car up - they hadn't offered to tell me what they'd one).

As I drove away I got the feeling that although the steering wheel was more or less centred, the car was still pulling left. I've been so busy since then haven't had chance to do anything about it, and lately, I'm sure the steering wheel is out even more. If I do hold it exactly centred, I go right, and if I hold it so the car's driving straight it's about 10-20 degrees off horizontal, and the car definitely pulls left. If I let go of the steering wheel (I know, I know, not when there's other cars about), I sometimes go left severely enough to warrant the indicators going on.

Rang again today where I got the third degree again, got bounced to bodyshop very quickly, no-one available, promised a ring back that never materialised. Customer Service - not here matey. Very disappointed as they're usually spot on here.

And yes, before you ask, tracking has been checked - about 3 separate times.

I don't want to be questioned as if I'm some sort of moron. There's something wrong with the bloody car. All they have to do is drive it a hundred yards and they'd see. All I want is to book it in and have someone look at it and preferably fix it. Not much to ask is it?