Geordie Amanda
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 158
- Car
- 350cdi Sport Plus
Well this is a sort of ‘how someone else managed to ruin somebody else’s car’ post. It's a little long, so please indulge me.
Many years ago I worked in the motor trade and this post relates to a dealer I worked at, but won’t mention for reasons that will become obvious
A retired lady came in with her faithful and much loved Nissan Micra. It was battered and scratched on almost every panel, the insides had enough redundant scraps of food to sustain life for several months if she became trapped inside it. But…she loved it and washed it often
The day in question was one for it’s annual service and she chose to wait, drinking that strange dealer coffee that gives you heart palpations, whilst she waited (note to general public, drink the hot chocolate if you need more than one cup of refreshment). Anyhoo, the nice technician drove the car into the garage and straight onto the pillar lift ramps as space was tight that day. Being a decent dealership and being a diligent techie, he popped open the little Micra’s boot and inspected the spare tyre, when a shout came out from a colleague to lift the ramp as they had a car coming in and needed the ramps out of the way. Up went the little Micra, happily rising to the roof and sure enough the garage doors opened to let the next car in. The problem was the garage doors were up and over in style and so, as the main door trundled along the roof, it eventually collected the poor little Micra’s rear hatchback door, which was still in it’s upright position. Stop cried the diligent technician, but it was too late as the Micra was now being pushed forwards to a potential launch preparation position. The front wheels popped off the front of the ramp and the techie ran under the Micra and tried to support its weight! Imagine his surprise when the second techie appeared next to him in order to help. This might have been useful, but as there were only the two of them to hand, it might have been a better idea for Techie #2 to have stopped the up and over doors. And so majestically, like a newly launched ship flowing down the slipway, the little Micra started it’s short trip to the garage floor, head butting the concrete and resting in a vertical position. This was bad enough, but sadly it was also pinned in place by being sandwiched between the pillar lift and the adjacent garage wall, a sort of Micra sandwich (I can’t remember if it was a Micra Wave sandwich…sorry).
The worst part was the poor Service manager had to sit the old lady down and after removing her arrhythmia causing coffee from her hand, explain that her car had been damaged during it’s annual service. “How badly?” She enquired, “er, kind of totally” replied the nervous Manager. Don’t worry we will find you a replacement car. Unfortunately the old lady thought he meant this was a temporary arrangement and not the demise of her beloved ‘Millie’. She was in tears, the receptionist was in tears, the Service manager started to well up and the sale staff went in the back so they could laugh out loud. Ah the fun of selling cars.
Many years ago I worked in the motor trade and this post relates to a dealer I worked at, but won’t mention for reasons that will become obvious
A retired lady came in with her faithful and much loved Nissan Micra. It was battered and scratched on almost every panel, the insides had enough redundant scraps of food to sustain life for several months if she became trapped inside it. But…she loved it and washed it often
The day in question was one for it’s annual service and she chose to wait, drinking that strange dealer coffee that gives you heart palpations, whilst she waited (note to general public, drink the hot chocolate if you need more than one cup of refreshment). Anyhoo, the nice technician drove the car into the garage and straight onto the pillar lift ramps as space was tight that day. Being a decent dealership and being a diligent techie, he popped open the little Micra’s boot and inspected the spare tyre, when a shout came out from a colleague to lift the ramp as they had a car coming in and needed the ramps out of the way. Up went the little Micra, happily rising to the roof and sure enough the garage doors opened to let the next car in. The problem was the garage doors were up and over in style and so, as the main door trundled along the roof, it eventually collected the poor little Micra’s rear hatchback door, which was still in it’s upright position. Stop cried the diligent technician, but it was too late as the Micra was now being pushed forwards to a potential launch preparation position. The front wheels popped off the front of the ramp and the techie ran under the Micra and tried to support its weight! Imagine his surprise when the second techie appeared next to him in order to help. This might have been useful, but as there were only the two of them to hand, it might have been a better idea for Techie #2 to have stopped the up and over doors. And so majestically, like a newly launched ship flowing down the slipway, the little Micra started it’s short trip to the garage floor, head butting the concrete and resting in a vertical position. This was bad enough, but sadly it was also pinned in place by being sandwiched between the pillar lift and the adjacent garage wall, a sort of Micra sandwich (I can’t remember if it was a Micra Wave sandwich…sorry).
The worst part was the poor Service manager had to sit the old lady down and after removing her arrhythmia causing coffee from her hand, explain that her car had been damaged during it’s annual service. “How badly?” She enquired, “er, kind of totally” replied the nervous Manager. Don’t worry we will find you a replacement car. Unfortunately the old lady thought he meant this was a temporary arrangement and not the demise of her beloved ‘Millie’. She was in tears, the receptionist was in tears, the Service manager started to well up and the sale staff went in the back so they could laugh out loud. Ah the fun of selling cars.
Last edited:
