Perc
Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object
My plan when I got up this morning was to go on a 450km roadtrip to Sweden, and then 450km back. When I had arrived in Haparanda (on the Finnish-Swedish border) the engine sounded like a rock crusher. The mechanic at the first garage I found told me off with a "I mostly do Volvos" without dropping his tools. Well, thanks a lot.
At the next garage, the nice mechanic came out and had a look and diagnosed it as a faulty water pump. Thankfully the water pump is driven by the accessory belt so the engine was never in any danger of actually grenading on me but I sure as hell didn't want to do the return trip.
I've owned the car from new and always had it serviced at the main dealer, so I decided to try their free mobility warranty service. They pay for the courtesy car and one night at a hotel for you and your passengers if the car can't be sorted immediately. Two phonecalls and 30 minutes later, this happened:
I was then given a tow back 20km in the direction from which I came, to Kemi where the closest Skoda dealer is. The tow truck driver then arranged my free courtesy car from Hertz. About 30 seconds after the phonecall the Hertz guy stopped by - apparently he had been grocery shopping next to the dealer and noticed a yellow tow truck unloading a Skoda just as his phone rang. :lol:
The Hertz guy drove me to their office and gave me the keys to this:
A Toyota Avensis estate. First impression was that it's a lot quieter inside and soaks up bumps better than my car. It's one class above the Octavia, after all. It's fairly well screwed together on the inside as well - no rattles or squeaks. No handbrake lever or button either, which is strange. I guess it's automatic in one way or another but I have no idea, haven't bothered to read the manual. There's an idiot light on the dash with crossed over P in it, so I guess the handbrake is deprogrammed (to avoid calls from customers with frozen handbrakes) or broken. It also claims the tire pressures are off, and the Hertz guy told me the TPMS needs to be deactivated.
As for features - well, it has cruise control. And a heater, and bluetooth which works well. But other than that, nothing. It even has manual windows in the back. The steering wheel has a button that I assume is for voice control. Nothing happens when you push it. In my own car, it goes ding and then tells me it doesn't understand what I said.
The fact that it is a naturally aspirated 1.6 became blindingly obvious when I tried to merge onto the 100km/h freeway in fifth gear. :lol: Dropped to fourth, still nothing. Third? There we go. This is the first naturally aspirated car I've driven in several years.
The fuel consumption sits at 7.something liters per 100km, which is pretty normal for a family car this size I'd guess. It's about the same as my car gets.
I'm typing this at the kitchen table in a rented cabin in Kukkolaforsen which I guess means Kukkola Rapids in English. Before it got dark, the view from the window was of the actual rapids, as well as Finland on the other side. I'm about 50 meters from the border, not that it matters up here. The only thing that changes when you cross the bridges is the font on the traffic signs.
At the next garage, the nice mechanic came out and had a look and diagnosed it as a faulty water pump. Thankfully the water pump is driven by the accessory belt so the engine was never in any danger of actually grenading on me but I sure as hell didn't want to do the return trip.
I've owned the car from new and always had it serviced at the main dealer, so I decided to try their free mobility warranty service. They pay for the courtesy car and one night at a hotel for you and your passengers if the car can't be sorted immediately. Two phonecalls and 30 minutes later, this happened:
I was then given a tow back 20km in the direction from which I came, to Kemi where the closest Skoda dealer is. The tow truck driver then arranged my free courtesy car from Hertz. About 30 seconds after the phonecall the Hertz guy stopped by - apparently he had been grocery shopping next to the dealer and noticed a yellow tow truck unloading a Skoda just as his phone rang. :lol:
The Hertz guy drove me to their office and gave me the keys to this:
A Toyota Avensis estate. First impression was that it's a lot quieter inside and soaks up bumps better than my car. It's one class above the Octavia, after all. It's fairly well screwed together on the inside as well - no rattles or squeaks. No handbrake lever or button either, which is strange. I guess it's automatic in one way or another but I have no idea, haven't bothered to read the manual. There's an idiot light on the dash with crossed over P in it, so I guess the handbrake is deprogrammed (to avoid calls from customers with frozen handbrakes) or broken. It also claims the tire pressures are off, and the Hertz guy told me the TPMS needs to be deactivated.
As for features - well, it has cruise control. And a heater, and bluetooth which works well. But other than that, nothing. It even has manual windows in the back. The steering wheel has a button that I assume is for voice control. Nothing happens when you push it. In my own car, it goes ding and then tells me it doesn't understand what I said.
The fact that it is a naturally aspirated 1.6 became blindingly obvious when I tried to merge onto the 100km/h freeway in fifth gear. :lol: Dropped to fourth, still nothing. Third? There we go. This is the first naturally aspirated car I've driven in several years.
The fuel consumption sits at 7.something liters per 100km, which is pretty normal for a family car this size I'd guess. It's about the same as my car gets.
I'm typing this at the kitchen table in a rented cabin in Kukkolaforsen which I guess means Kukkola Rapids in English. Before it got dark, the view from the window was of the actual rapids, as well as Finland on the other side. I'm about 50 meters from the border, not that it matters up here. The only thing that changes when you cross the bridges is the font on the traffic signs.
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