You haven't heard the best bit yet (this is where Bedlam finally chips in with a p!$$-take...)
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It broke down. In the middle of Luton about 100 yards away from the entrance to the Vauxhall plant.
There I was merrily posing away at about 40mph, when everything died - and I mean
everything!
No engine, stuck in gear, no power steering - nada! I only just managed to get it onto the grass verge before stopping altogether - in rush hour.
If you want to know what it was like, try 40mph in 4th on a busy single-lane road and just turn your ignition off.
Oh, and don't touch the gear lever or clutch pedal - this thing's got electronic shift paddles on the steering column like an F1 car.
[Kids, don't try this at home]
Called 118500 and asked for the number of a Maserati garage - any flippin' Maserati garage!
They talked me through a few fault-finding points and concluded that a fuse must have blown somewhere. (No [shizzle] Sherlock?)
You wanna guess how many fuses there are in one of these things? About 70 pulled fuses and an hour later I found it...
But, guess what? Maserati don't supply spare fuses!
"That's OK Sir, pull the one for the horn and use that one."
(No, they don't label the 6 fuse box covers either.)
Anyway, at least the car started again.
But with no gears...
Ah, that's OK - I'll press the "Auto" button and use it in automatic mode...............POP!
The bl00dy fuse went again - and no more spare to use.
To cut a long story short (sorry, too late) I jury rigged a
paper clip into service until I could find a service station (that didn't sell the mini spade fuses that Maserati use) and then a recovery yard at Fleet services where the mechanic gave me a couple to replace the blown ones.
Apart from that, the drive home was absolutely brillaint
They might look nice, and go like a bat outta hell, but when
one fuse stops the whole shebang... What would it have been like if I'd been doing 90 on the motorway???
Give me a Mazdarati any day...
Ken
Still on a high
