An Alarming Incident!

It's half term and I have to say, it's started off with a wee bit more excitement than I had anticipated. More's the point, it has started with excitement, which, quite frankly, I could have done without. Let me start at the beginning though, because some excitement was expected.

On Friday, I waved goodbye to my eldest daughter. Actually, I didn't, the coaches that were taking herself and her cohorts to Paris hadn't arrived on time (for a change) and so, parents were politely asked to leave so that the teachers and school buses could access the car park. Anyway, back to the story, Miss. D was off to Paris for a French trip. One day in Paris and one day in Disneyland Paris. Jealous? Yes, me too! Back home Monday afternoon. I know she wasn't gone long, but Miss. L and I missed her and were really looking forward to her arriving home.


So feeling just a little excited, I set out to collect her from school. Um, it's fair to say, I didn't get far. I didn't get far at all. I probably covered about two feet before all hell let loose.

This is my car. I like my car. My car does everything I need my car to do. Best of all, it's bloody cheap to run! It may not be a prestige car, but it's mine and I love it. Well usually I love it. I did not feel quite so affectionate towards it last night.

I'd parked the other way round (just in case some bright spark thinks my choice of gear had something to do with the problem) so I had to reverse off the drive. Everything, was working as it should, I covered two feet or so, and all of a sudden the alarm went off. I swore, a lot, I think. Grabbed the owners manual and went indoors to find out how to turn it off. The ignition did nothing, nor did the door lock. The owners manual was as much use as a chocolate teapot!

Next port of call, the dealership I purchased the car from. They'll know what to do, right? Wrong! All they could do was give me the number to contact Renault. Now, the lady at Renault was very helpful and arranged to send out a patrol to look at it for me (under warranty), but it would be up to two hours before they arrived. I live on a new build estate, it was only a matter of time before the neighbours organised themselves into a lynch mob. Armed with this information she put me through to someone who tried to help me stop the alarm. It didn't work.

Enter a friendly neighbour, or two, or three. Yes, three fabulous neighbours came to my rescue. I cannot tell you how relieved I was. Given my recent poor mental health, this incident was testing my 'recovery' to the limits and I was on the verge of losing it big time! We got the bonnet open and located the problem, but we couldn't stop the noise. After an hour of the horn sounding we eventually stopped it by disconnecting the battery. It was a last resort, but honestly, needs must. I cannot remember how many times I thanked those wonderful gentlemen, but I have bought them cards to say a proper thank you. What I do know, is that they haven't got a clue just how much their help meant to me.

About half an hour later, Mr. RAC man arrived. He managed to disconnect the horn, which was still sounding continually if the battery was connected. It took him a while, as it is located in a bit of a fiddly to get to place, but thank goodness, he managed it. Once done, he reconnected the battery and gave the car a quick once over to make sure it was working properly.

I am pleased to report that the car is running just fine (so long as I don't need to use the horn, that is) and it is booked in with the dealer to be repaired and serviced. In the words of the lovely Chloe at Renault, who did the repair and service booking, 'It's going to be an interesting day when it goes in for repair.' You see, no one has come across this before. Not Mr. RAC man, not Dacia, not Renault. It's a very unique issue, but then again, this is my car and I'm pretty unique, so really, are we surprised? I'll leave you to mull that one over.