BE PREPARED!

From time to time we do try to put useful or informative little articles on our website, (as well as this rubbish), which hopefully some of our customers may find helpful.

Thinking of the coming winter for example, (I’m writing this in November), we were having a chat in the garage about preparing for the chilly season. Someone suggested a customer information bulletin on our website with some tips and ideas about winter motoring. Everyone looked expectantly at me. Dunno why actually - the first thing I do when it snows is leave the car in the workshop and go home in a company van - don’t see how that would help the average motorist.

Seriously though, there are of course a number of more practical suggestions I could make. For example you could put a spade in the boot, or a blanket, or a thermos, or you could buy a 4x4 - all of these could help. But what you’re up against really is a transport infrastructure that isn’t really geared up for winter. It’s not geared up for transport actually – well not properly. And that’s why the Swedes and the Germans just carry on despite harsher winters whereas everything here just stops – planes, trains anything that’s supposed to move just doesn’t. Everyone in the public sector goes home early (health and safety) and the rest of us just struggle hopelessly on. And what’s even worse is that we just accept it.

Last year, after the first heavy snowfall, almost all of our little team got here on time. We put on our thermals, opened the doors, cleared the snow off the forecourts and car parks and then spent the next couple of hours drinking coffee, and answering the phone to customers who had looked out of the window and decided the car could be fixed another day. So where was the Dunkirk Spirit? What happened to battling on in the face of adversity?

Later that day, on the news, I recall a cross American being asked by a reporter how he felt about being trapped in the chaos at Heathrow. His expression said “You guys need to kick some ass.” And he might have a point. A friend who had the misfortune to be there, told me that all the customer care staff cleared off mid afternoon and left the stranded passengers to it.

We’re not very good at certain things in this country, including anything which might come under the heading of maintaining the infrastructure. So, if you expect the roads to be gritted for example (including the one you live on) you should prepare to feel let down. Mind you, relying on the Environment Agency or the NHS or any public service organisation to sort out a problem for you could equally well lead to disappointment.

I suppose what I’m driving at is that we need to prepare for more than just winter.

A lot of the stuff that happens is fairly predictable if you think about it for a moment. Christmas is a good example. We all know people who dash off at the last minute panic buying presents, turkeys etc. Why do they do this? They knew Christmas was coming twelve months ago, it can’t have been a surprise surely?

Anyway, to return to my original premise, you really should give some thought to how you are going to cope when the weather turns nasty. When you wake up to find your car buried in several feet of snow, throwing your hands in the air and saying “well who would have thought?” won’t help much. All that’s required is a bit of planning. Buy the shovels, scrapers, grit, de-icer, etc. before it snows, not after when everything’s sold out. Have your battery checked – buy a new one whilst the car still starts instead of when it won’t. If it’s really important for you to keep motoring, how about winter tyres? They work and we sell them – give us a ring.

We all know modern cars are incredibly reliable, (well apart from some French ones maybe), and much of the time motoring requires little more thought or input than microwave cooking.

However, if you treat your motor with no more care than you treat your microwave oven and then one day you find yourself a bit stuck, you can’t put all the blame on someone else, can you?