[TimD]

Some of you may recall that this time last year, I had to miss a race meeting at Mallory Park because a franchised dealership had wrongly fitted a new set of brakes on my car during a routine service. The car was left in a dangerous condition, and there was no way I was going to take the risk of putting it on a motorway on the offchance that they might bed in.

Well, it's that time again. Starbug the Corsa had his service and MOT today, and being a bit pushed for time, I dropped him off at the local dealership again, knowing that there really wasn't going to be a lot needed doing to it.

I should have known better.

The telephone rang about an hour later. Could I please authorise work to be done to get the brakes to MoT standard, please? The alarm bells should have rung at that point. What work precisely?

But I was pushed for time, I had an interview to get to, I also need the car tomorrow.

I should have known better.

When I collected Starbug this afternoon, the Service Manager greeted me with that cheery smile that tells you he's about to sting you for a serious amount of money, and said I was lucky I brought the car in when I did. The front brake discs were knurdled.

I love that word - knurdled.

"Really? They were only done 11,000 miles ago," I said.

"You're joking! They were knackered. So were the pads. What cowboy did that for you, then?"

"Well, er, you did."

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"Wot?"

"Well, this garage did, anyway. And I had to go back and complain about them at the time."

The Victorians used to have an expression, "collapse of stout party" when someone who thinks they know exactly what they're talking about suddenly gets the wind taken out of their sails.....!

Suffice to sa I've now got a complaints procedure on my hands, as I gather the evidence to show that a main dealer left me with potentially unroadworthy brakes for a year, and a replacement cost at a quarter of the discs' natural lifespan.

And on the premise that every young man should have an Italian mistress at some time in his life, I am popping over to the local Emporium of Sin to sample a 1-year-old Alfa Romeo 156 Twinspark in black, which is sitting on their forecourt at what is very nearly the right price.

Better put my haggling hat on.

Anyone else got any garage horror stories they'd like to share? And if anyone knows the finer points of what to look out for on Alfa 156's, I'd be pleased to hear from them.