The cost of driving.....

......Insurance, MOT & Tax.

Oh dear, the start of November was looking like a costly month. However, it was not as bad as it could have been.
Nine months ago, on the Audi channel on Sky, Audi UK were advertising a free MOT to any Audi driver. All you had to do was to print off a receipt from their website after enter your postcode, Reg. number and the date of the MOT. Then, Audi UK will book you in at the nearest Audi approved dealer or official main dealership. All for free. No catch, right, well, obviously they'll fail the car and cover there costs with something or other that has to be fixed.
As it turned out, Audi Glasgow and other Audi main dealers don't charge MOTs on older Audis anyway, but you live and learn these things. So on the 26th of October, Kolo the 8 year old A2 went in for it's test.
Failed.
Of course. But on the pettiest of things: loose indicator repeaters in both wings. Yes they were loose, I broke them, they do work however! So it should really be an advisory note, not a fail. However £32.68 to supply and fit (at a main dealer). Not bad, still cheaper than £45 for a MOT these days. Plus I was going to fix them, they could have shorted in the Glasgow rain, so, in a way, two stones. They also washed and polished Kolo, they didn't even mention it. Very good Glasgow Audi. From the huge disappointment of the last visit at AforAudi, main dealer service doesn't seem as costly or as frustrating as I've experienced before.
Insurance time, the costly side of Admiral Multicar. Instead of just facing one renewal, it's time to shop for two.
I've been on S L's insurance for too long to keep my No-Claims, when we had just one car. Then, 12 months ago, we bought a second car. Phoning up Admiral and explaining my situation with with 0 No-Claims, they Multicar'd me. I didn't care at the time as it was by far the cheapest insurance I could get. On paper, I'm not the best person to insure: a 27 year old male, inner city Glasgow address, a premium car make, 0 years N-C bonus.
The renewal cost this year for both cars: £807.03. Going on all these price comparison sites that advertise with ever increasing frequency and ever increasingly annoying gingles did not save me anything, one site: £985, for just me! I then went onto Admiral's own site: £734 for both cars and drivers. Phoned them up to ask why, after a 50 minute chat to a friendly Welsh woman, £704 with added 'Non Insured Driver Legal Cover' for both myself and S L, so if a NID hits me or S L, in either car, all occupants can claim compensation for injuries and loses, without affecting our N-Cs bonuses.
Bargain, as Paul Whitehouse would say, in his poor Welsh accent.

So, Saved £13 or so on the MOT and £103 on the insurance renewal. Plus Tax is only £35 on this low capacity, low CO2 Diesel.

Not the most well written post I've made but maybe with £116s worth of English grammar tuition, I might get better*.


(*because that's what I'll spend it on, hmm)