Having given the SL its annual hose down in preparation for tomorrow’s meet, I took pity on the S Class and gave it a thorough hand wash this morning.
Then I received a text from MB Cheltenham & Gloucester advising me that they are offering a free “Efficiency Check” this weekend.
I had intended to visit them at some point anyway - they are a bit off my normal beat but I wanted to give them feed back that, in 3 years since I bought it, the car has had no faults.
I popped in there this afternoon and met the man who sold me the car, although he is now rather more senior, and we had a congenial chat whereupon he arranged the efficiency check for me with the workshop.
I am delighted to say that it achieved a 100% pass. I have used 80% of the original brake pads in 46,000 miles, so will change them in 7,500 miles at the next service.
So today I have the peace of mind of knowing that at age 5 years:
- the car has no rust (I do a pretty comprehensive wash)
- it has averaged 39.6 mpg over the last 4,000 miles
- it had zero faults when checked by STAR - and excellent feedback by the workshop manager
- the tyres have 6 mm tread all round (outer, middle, inner on all 4 tyres, spare unused).
And the value of decent used cars seems to be going up, not down!
