Second hand cars huh?

What happens when you buy a used car? Drama of course! I was finally able to pick up my van from my friend’s house where I had to leave it until I got it registered and bought the number plates and insurance. Having sorted all of this out I gleefully took a 3 hour train ride to his house to collect the van. After a 1.5km walk from the train station once again set eyes on my new van, its shiny green exterior calling to me! I unlocked the car excited beyond belief to finally be bringing it home with me. I inserted the key into the ignition and turned, nothing happened. There was a slight rumbling in the engine but nothing I had ever heard before (and I’m from South Africa, I’ve heard loads of cars try and fail to start!). That worried me. Usually when it’s the battery the car engine tries to turn over but doesn’t have the power to do so, similar story with there’s no gas. My car sounded like a washing machine during the wash cycle. No lie, no exaggeration! What to do then? Curl up into a ball of dismay that all my dreams of cross country travel have been shattered by the simple turning of the key in an ignition? Well obviously that wouldn’t solve anything so I sent a few messages to friends in Switzerland who know nothing about cars so naturally they couldn’t help. This followed a long distance call to a friend in South Africa who knows loads about cars but this didn’t help either as he had no idea what the sound was and being 10 000 km away couldn’t very well take a look in the engine!

There was nothing left to do but call road side assistance. If you ever need roadside assistance in Switzerland on a Sunday you will suddenly realise… K-ching! There goes all the money I saved bargaining down the price of the car! And that money was just for him to come to the car. First thing he does is check the battery, signs indicate “weak”…that’s never good. So he attaches this gizmo to the battery and wham, car starts! Well if I’d known it would be that simple I’d just carry my own gizmo around!

So once the car was started it could not be stopped. I had a bit of a hairy moment when I had to fill up with gas but it seems that the battery had enough juice to keep going, thankfully! Then without a single problem my van drove me the 200km home. But now not only do I have no money for the rest of the month, but I can’t afford a new battery until next month. I guess that means focussing on making the inside of the van absolutely awesome!