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Saturday evening excitement

And so it was, after a long night getting Autocar Asean's August edition to print, that I finally got home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Walking through the front door while the sun was shining overhead, the beauty of the clear blue skies were lost on me as all I wanted was the horizontal comforts of my bed. The land of Nod soon claimed me as its latest citizen.

When I woke up later that day, it was to forage for food and to run some errands that could not wait until the next week. I climbed into my car, turned over the ignition and POOM! - a loud bang and my car shook. Startled though I was, I didn't think anything of it until I tried to turn the key again – nothing – then, more worryingly, the acrid smell of burning.

Jumping out of the car, I pulled the bonnet release lever and pushed it open to see swirling wisps of smoke. My car battery had exploded.

Saturday, late evening... I called my insurance company which has a breakdown service to get their help. Explaining that my battery had exploded, I asked if they could send someone and could they please bring a battery with them. The man confirmed my details, including that of my car, a diesel, were correct and said he would call me back as he was sure that the diesel version of my car used a different battery from the petrol version and he had to check if they had it in stock.

Moments later he called me back to say that they only had the battery for the petrol variant of my car but offered to send a tow truck if I wanted one.

Hmm, I'd heard absurd stories in my time but different batteries for the petrol and diesel variants of my car? Someone must think this woman is really gullible – especially when I had checked the driver's manual while waiting for him to call me back.

Thanking him nicely since he was a total stranger at the end of the telephone line who also happens to have my home address and telephone number, I said I would call back if I needed the tow truck. I then called my mechanic who, even though it was Saturday evening and would soon get dark, very kindly agreed to come over with a battery.

He came within an hour and also brought with him a voltage meter to confirm that it really was the battery that was faulty and not the alternator. He also took photos of the burnt out battery in situ then swapped the new battery in. The car started without a hitch - which was a relief – I had visions of it also exploding. He took a photo of the voltage meter reading for good measure, then left with the exploded car battery since it was still under warranty.

So what was the point of this blog entry? First, have more than one person to call if you have a car emergency. Second, treat your mechanic with the respect he deserves when he services your car. He can make all the difference in the world between being mobile or not in an emergency.