It don't look much but I've been far

When the phone rang just before lunchtime I knew it wasn’t going to be good news. The garage chappy said the car needed two things fixed to pass the MOT; a new bolt-on thing (easy-peasy, costs £11 and will take half an hour to do) but also the headlight reflectors seem to be mongoosed and aren’t throwing the beam properly, which they now have to do. He’d phoned around a few places and they didn’t seem to be available – should he call the main dealer and get sepcial brand-new headlight units which would cost more than the car’s worth? After my panic had subsided I told him to hang fire and I’d get back to him. I need plenty of warning if I’m to make a snap decision, you understand. I mean, I don’t want to throw money away, but I don’t want to be forced to scrap a go-able car merely because of manky reflectors.

So I started phoning breakers’ yards, and hurrah! The first one I called had indeed got a pair – right model, right year! So I leaped into the little car and off I sped, only to be told when I arrived at the yard that someone had taken the entire car yesterday. Thanks pal. So home I went to get back on the phone. The next nearest didn’t have any, so then I started going alphabetically. A spares shop in Alcester (about 20 miles away) had some in stock but they were £63 + VAT each. Worth bearing in mind though.

Next alphabetically was a place in Banbury. And yes, not only did they have two headlight units, they were a pair, and both MOT-passable. I got directions of where to find them and buzzed off again; and toured the industrial estate they were on for about 15 minutes looking for their unit before I cornered someone and asked for help*. It turns out that ‘last place on the left’ translates as ‘second turning on the right down an alleyway between two warehouses’ but as they hadn’t been lying to me, and I came away with both lights for a total of £35 I let it pass.

The car will be ready tomorrow. Yay!

*Males reading this may have a problem with that concept.