We first went in to pick the car up around mid December as I mentioned in my previous post. A cheque was passed over, car registration completed and we were chatting away to the sales person. I mentioned we were planning to have the hail damage (the 7 dents indicated to us on first seeing the car) when the sales person mentioned the dents on the bonnet! We hadn't noted any dents on the bonnet!
We hastily headed over to see the vehicle which had now been fully detailed, all new and shiny! The detailing now revealed the hail damage was more extensive than we had first feared. There were multiple minute dents across the bonnet that we could now see.
It was mentioned that they had a dent repair guy repairing many of the vehicles at the request of their new car owners. So we joined the list, paid over an amount to have all dents fixed prior to our taking the vehicle.
The pickup date was set for January 2nd, soon after our return from Melbourne for Christmas with the family.
We contacted the dealer ship upon our return for the January 2nd pickup. Oh no, you have the wrong dates said the sales coordinator. Our salesperson was enjoying her Christmas break and was not contactable. Your car will be ready Monday January 6th we were told!
The salesperson returned from her holidays on Tuesday 7th and rang Trish immediately. Our car was to be ready for collection at 3 pm that afternoon. Being fully repaired by the dealership meant the car would be sold to us as a 'new' car an meant we could now get new for old replacement insurance.
Trish was very keen to drive it everywhere until after either the first or second trip there was a nasty white paint scrape on the back door where a car door had been opened onto it! A little bit of polish soon had that all sorted.
Our trip to Melbourne was tinged with some sadness. Eddie Riordan was a principal of mine when I taught at Hampton Park East. We always got on very well and remained in close contact after we had both retired. We always catch up with Eddie and Patsy usually for a Vietnamese meal at Springvale. I rang on a Friday to set a date for our outing when Patsy answered the phone and told us Eddie had passed away early that morning.
Eddie had had body parts replaced, survived heart surgery and numerous other health issues so he had done well to get to 85 years. Trish and I attended the funeral which was a full Catholic affair. A couple of other colleagues were in attendance so we kicked over old stories from days gone by at the wake.
Christmas with the family was great and we caught up with everyone. It was extremely enjoyable. On the drive down we spent a short time with Mick and Janet in Newcastle. It is always great to catch up with them. Mick enjoys his beers and introduced me to Balter Doctor Sensible, a mid strength Pale Ale. Very very nice I must say!
We drove to Melbourne this time and again used our now 12 year old Hyundai Sonata. It handled the job perfectly and being a 6 cylinder car, passing triple layered B-Doubles was a breeze when traffic permitted! Just put your foot down and off you go and all with space to spare!
Right now we are looking forward to Wednesday of next week when Kate and the two grand kids come to stay for 6 nights. It will be pool, beach, eat and sleep for those 6 days. We reckon they will love it.
Then a few days later Trish and a girlfriend are off to Melbourne and will keep an eye on Kim's St Kilda flat and the cat while Kim heads off to Bali. They will have Kim's car to use and will get to the tennis for the Australian Open as well I am sure.
I will stay back at home and watch it all unfold on TV.
My sister and Peter live at Omeo Victoria which is in the recent zone for serious bush fires. They are keen caravaners and loaded up their van and fled the area when they were advised to evacuate.. The fires were close to Omeo and we are hopeful that everything escaped the fires and their home on 20 acres is safe and sound..
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