the drive

Up first thing to take the car to the garage, got the wheel fixed (more on that in a second), back, packed the car and then headed off down the road. It's an easy drive from home to London if long; it should have been about 6.5h but with a few breaks and a lorry fire on the M1 it was more like 7.5h.

There's something very grim about motorway service stations, even Westmorland (although it is the best of a bad lot) but there's no avoiding them on a long trip.

Finally into London to meet some friends for drinks and dinner at the Royal Festival Hall. Nice view, great catching up!

Fantastic service from Ness Motors in Perth. No pressure sales, friendly and they've been very good at resolving issues. The front wheels on my car appear to have some kind of manufacturing defect that has led to corrosion on the inside which in turn means the tyres are constantly losing air (or sometimes go completely flat suddenly). The first time it was the passenger's side. I took the car back, they identified the problem and despite the car being used when I bought it, swapped the wheel for a new one for a token fee.

Same problem this time with the driver's side. I took it in on Wednesday, they had a new wheel in by 8am on Thursday, swapped it over, checked the other wheels and let me go without paying because they knew I was in a rush.

Really exemplary customer care and service.