Opening Pandora's Box.

...but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

A can of worms - Pandora's box

"...the proverbial phrase refers to a source of endless complications or trouble arising from a single, simple miscalculation".


We're picking up the thread left by the "Aftermath" post back in February. We've wandered off on a long tangent with our discussions about Daphne and her development, so now it's time to get back on track.


So..."A Good Idea At The Time". How often have you heard that? But buying this truck as opposed to all the others on offer at the time seemed like a good one. For example, one of the "Expedition" Defenders I saw advertised was described as having "a snorkel - not plumbed in, but looks the part". What does that tell you about the vehicle and the owner? Car Park Poser?



So, after a long series of phone calls that checked every item on the sale particulars, we became the owners of a 1995 110 Defender that we'd not actually set eyes on. Why should anyone take such a risk? Well, mainly because of the rapport I struck up with the seller and our knowledge, hard won, of Defenders. He's in the aviation business, like me, and given that he's regularly responsible for hundreds of lives, not to mention a couple of million pounds worth of aeroplane, we thought we could rely on his word.That he'd tell the truth, in other words. Not lie.
"If there's anything wrong with it, tell me now and save us time and disappointment" is what I'd said weeks earlier.
"No, there's absolutely nothing wrong apart from the usual cosmetic stuff. It could do with a respray. Everything is in top condition. It's just had an MoT and sailed through. It gets serviced every year at MoT-time and I watch while it's done".
Yes, we were competely sucker-ed in! You'll see why eventually.

I flew down on the early-bird from Inverness to Gatwick, caught the train to Haywards Heath and sat in the station cafe to wait for the seller to turn up. With no sign of him at the agreed time, I call him. His first words: "Er...didn't you get my e-mail?" As you might imagine, this question didn't put a smile on my face; something's clearly gone wrong with the plan.
It got worse. "I know I said the MoT was done in March this year, but I made a mistake. It was March last year. But it's OK, it's at the garage now, being done. There won't be a problem. Can you find yourself something to do for a couple of hours?" Brilliant! Still, having not met the bloke yet, and the deal still to be finalised (I had a large wedge of beer vouchers in my pocket) I kept my opinion of his memory and personal organising ability to myself. How do you get an MoT date wrong by a year? Particularly if you always attend the event in person....

Now, I don't know if any readers know Haywards Heath, but there isn't a great deal to do at any time, let alone a wet weekday. I found the library, eventually, and sat reading the paper and wasting precious time.

I'd arranged the insurance to start at 1200 and had a 600 mile drive ahead of me and work the following day. No pressure, then.



At 11 he picked me up in a builder's wagon. I was expecting a yellow ("mad yellow"  - what?) Landrover. I cleared the crisp packets and crumbs from the seat and got in. "Bit of a problem - it's failed the MoT on a couple of small things - like wheel bearings - but they're doing it now and it should be ready in half an hour...." Small things, wheel bearings, not important at all and really hard to check....my opinion of him slips another rung down the ladder.
To fill the time he drives me to his home and gives me a guided tour of the enormous palace he's building in the garden. I get a complete breakdown of the cost of every door handle, light fitting and tap and we go from room to room chatting to the contractors and generally killing time. He gets a call from the garage. They can't find the key for the locking wheel nuts.
"It's in the cubby box, or under the seat somewhere. I'm sure you'll find it".
So, they haven't even started on the wheel bearing then....20 minutes later and he gets the same question again, rummages around for a minute or so and then finds said wheel nut key in his jacket pocket. I am not impressed and suggest we take a trip to the garage, deliver the key and at least get started on my inspection, if they'll let us.

They won't. No surprise, really. Very few workshops let the customers see what's going on. I eventually get to see what I've come to buy at 12:21. I know that precisely 'cos it's time stamped on the MoT certificate and I also checked my watch to see if I was now legal - insurance-wise, to drive it. I'm now running over 3 hours late on my timeline so the inspection, back at the "ranch" is going to have to be a lot quicker that I'd planned. Hopefully, though, our long discussions about the vehicle's condition will make it easy.




Once we're back I get the first chance to have a good look around. The first place I go is under the bonnet. Not to see the engine, but to check the bulkhead - a well-known Defender rust trap. This is what I saw straight away - only this is from the other side.....

The other side of this was easily spotted due to the daylight shining through it.

I discovered later (at my home garage) that this is an MoT fail - it's right next to the pedal box. The MoT was less than an hour old. How does anyone with even one eye miss this? Makes you wonder why we bother, doesn't it? Not to mention the meticulous inspection allegedly done before I arrived. On the plus side, this was the only major thing that I found in the short time I could spend crawling about over and underneath it. Everything else seemed to be as I'd expected so I didn't have too much trouble with the money side of things other than to promise that I'd be in touch when my garage had inspected the rusty bulkhead and come up with a plan to repair it. I had no time to make a careful, inspection of the tent and things except to make sure it was all there, but the amount of green algae on the truck's roof and faded covers suggested that it'd spent rather less time "always garaged" than I'd been told. Since I was now going to miss lunch he made me a sandwich and donated a bottle of water - perhaps in lieu of the £1 change I was due from the pile of notes on the table.



As I made to drive away, he opened the door and said "Oh, don't forget to check the water and oil once in a while"...valuable advice. I hadn't thought of that. And then "and you might want to check the battery, too. Have a safe trip." Check the battery? Woffor? Is it going to leak away or fall out? I didn't give the suggestion any more thought; or rather I did, but kept it to myself. Not much I can do about it now, anyway. M25  - otherwise known as the South Circular Car Park - ahead, imminent rush hour traffic and 3 hours late, oh joy.....