WELL, THAT'S IT THEN....

April 28 - Le turbo finito... Wells that's not what it actually says on the diagnostic report. It says the all the systems controlling the turbo are working fine and nothing has occurred to explain our problem. Except the problem. Which the diagnostic team replicated. They knew we towed a caravan and this was the first time we towed it at 3,000 feet on the A 75. So they replicated a maximum turbo pressure event. And it failed. So they did it again. And it failed. I went on line before taking the car to the garage – a VAG dealer in Millau. So I know roughly what happens. The turbo hits maximum pressure – at about 4,000 rpm in anything but sixth. And it fails to deliver. The engine management system goes loop and shuts down everything, dumping pressure tout suite. Result zilch turbo until you turn off and on again. When the aforementioned EMU runs a re-boot and resets the whole thing. Sadly it appears this is NOT on the event log which the EMU also runs.

Here is our problem – garage fees in France are 50% higher than in the UK and they want “en le environ de” (i.e. about) 1,500 euros. That's 1300 quid or more. The about really refers to whether they replace all the bits that MIGHT fail later or simply put them back. If money was not a problem and the car A – much loved and B – younger I';d say replace. Which probably puts it at 2,000 euros. Stay and do or go?

Here is the best solution as we see it. The car will never need to be run at maximum pressure if NOT towing. So we can drive home with ease and comfort. An d have the job done in the UK. We are deciding to leave the car on a back lot at the site we are on for four weeks. Drive home, have the job done, and drive back in late May to recover the caravan.

Do we feel cheated? You bet. Do we feel jinxed? You had better believe it. One oyster event worth four days. Oh yes. One robbery worth £2,500. What do you think? Two flat tyres worth 80 euroes and a set of brake pads worth 120 euroes. Don't you just love this? And now we have a blown turbo worth 1,500 and a need to turn for home two months early. Don't even ask.