Today i went to look at a 197 cup for sale at this place http://www.gpcars.co.uk/used-cars/search-results?make=RENAULT
It was all sat there waiting for me to take on a test drive, freshly polished and ready to go.
The place is in some farm buildings so a trip down an unmade road to get to the main road gave it time to warm up a little and me feel embarrassed to be driving it through the mud and puddles, the roads were wet too and i did not know them and had to keep to the left a lot to keep out of the way of oncoming traffic.
It drove really well, again for me after my srtiped out track day car felt very comfortable.
A couple of miles in i asked if there was a place to turn around but the salesman (who had luckily gone with me) said to carry on and it will loop around to get back to were we had started, take the next left, this was down an even narrow country lane and around the first corner there was a newish horse box lorry, about a 26 tonne one i'd have said.
I pulled into the ditch edge to let the guy by and sat waiting, as he squeezed by i thought 'thats close' then the door mirror closed in, the salesman shouted 'pull the mirror in, pull the mirror in' not being used to the cars i fumbled for the window switch and folded the mirror in but he just kept on squeezing by.
As his cab went by the rear arch i'm thinking 'i'm sure those arches looked wide in the mirrors before' when 'crunch!!' i had an horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, i kept thinking, have i just bought this?
I had visions of the trucks wheel nuts ripping into the rear quarter and tearing it open like a tin opener. at this point the salesmans telling to drive further into the ditch, the lorry drivers telling me to back up a little and theres about 6 cars backing up behind the truck, i felt sick.
I did'nt want to move either way and cause more damage but the truck driver manouvered away a little so i could back up a little and give him enough space to get by, then he just drove off.
I got out the car, the salesman got out, through the drivers side as the passenger door was against the bank, we looked at the damage, a scuff on the rear bumper edge just below the rear quarter and could not belive thats all there was, but the truck driver was gone.
The car that had been behind it stopped and had wrote down the number plate, i was more concerned that the salesman, i said he cant get far, lets go after him :bored: then a taxi had pulled up behind me and i was a little blocked in, we jumped back in the clio, him first through the drivers side again and reversed around the taxi, just as i'd got around him the truck driver running back up the road to see us.
He appolgised but said he thought his lorry was more damaged than ours but gave the salesman a card, he lived just up the road at a farm and siad give me a call tomorrow.
The rest of the test drive was horrible, back at the garage we both hopped out to look at the damage, a little scuff on the mirror cap and a very light scuff on the bumper but the car was filthy by this time and did not looks as bad, not wanting to rub the dirt into it he laft it, left me to look around it and then sat me down to see if we could do a deal, i still felt sick.
He could not knock any money off the car and i'm looking at a white cup tomorrow
It was all sat there waiting for me to take on a test drive, freshly polished and ready to go.
The place is in some farm buildings so a trip down an unmade road to get to the main road gave it time to warm up a little and me feel embarrassed to be driving it through the mud and puddles, the roads were wet too and i did not know them and had to keep to the left a lot to keep out of the way of oncoming traffic.
It drove really well, again for me after my srtiped out track day car felt very comfortable.
A couple of miles in i asked if there was a place to turn around but the salesman (who had luckily gone with me) said to carry on and it will loop around to get back to were we had started, take the next left, this was down an even narrow country lane and around the first corner there was a newish horse box lorry, about a 26 tonne one i'd have said.
I pulled into the ditch edge to let the guy by and sat waiting, as he squeezed by i thought 'thats close' then the door mirror closed in, the salesman shouted 'pull the mirror in, pull the mirror in' not being used to the cars i fumbled for the window switch and folded the mirror in but he just kept on squeezing by.
As his cab went by the rear arch i'm thinking 'i'm sure those arches looked wide in the mirrors before' when 'crunch!!' i had an horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, i kept thinking, have i just bought this?
I had visions of the trucks wheel nuts ripping into the rear quarter and tearing it open like a tin opener. at this point the salesmans telling to drive further into the ditch, the lorry drivers telling me to back up a little and theres about 6 cars backing up behind the truck, i felt sick.
I did'nt want to move either way and cause more damage but the truck driver manouvered away a little so i could back up a little and give him enough space to get by, then he just drove off.
I got out the car, the salesman got out, through the drivers side as the passenger door was against the bank, we looked at the damage, a scuff on the rear bumper edge just below the rear quarter and could not belive thats all there was, but the truck driver was gone.
The car that had been behind it stopped and had wrote down the number plate, i was more concerned that the salesman, i said he cant get far, lets go after him :bored: then a taxi had pulled up behind me and i was a little blocked in, we jumped back in the clio, him first through the drivers side again and reversed around the taxi, just as i'd got around him the truck driver running back up the road to see us.
He appolgised but said he thought his lorry was more damaged than ours but gave the salesman a card, he lived just up the road at a farm and siad give me a call tomorrow.
The rest of the test drive was horrible, back at the garage we both hopped out to look at the damage, a little scuff on the mirror cap and a very light scuff on the bumper but the car was filthy by this time and did not looks as bad, not wanting to rub the dirt into it he laft it, left me to look around it and then sat me down to see if we could do a deal, i still felt sick.
He could not knock any money off the car and i'm looking at a white cup tomorrow
