Susan wrote about one of those lights that come on in the car which make you think the thing is about to blow up. I too have been going through this trauma recently. I drive a Seat Ibiza, the engine of which is made by Volkswagen, so it has some features which are probably useful in Germany, but not here in deepest Andalucia…or so I thought.

We had a very cold snap here a couple of weeks ago. I got into the car to go to work and a light came on to tell me to use the heated rear view mirrors, something I scoffed at when buying the car.  After a quick fiddle I found the relevant switch and viola, instantly clear mirrors. Driving through the country lanes I was surprised to suddenly hear a “bing bong” (Like on an aircraft) come from somewhere. I ignored it. The following day the same thing happened as I drove out of the village, so I decided to stop off at the Seat garage on my way home. I always get nervous when I’m talking to mechanics because they could tell me anything, and seeing as I’m completely clueless when it comes to cars I believe them. The bloke in the garage was sympathetic though, he knew what the “bing bong” was and explained it usually wouldn’t happen here. It seems when the outside temperature drops below 6ºc there is a chance of slippery roads due to surface ice and the “bing bong” is to alert the driver to take extra care. Who knew!

A few days later I was driving again and noticed a light which had been flashing at me for quite some time. The light shows a spanner followed by some numbers. I went again to the Seat garage and asked the bloke what it meant. This time he wasn’t quite as sympathetic. “When this light shows it means your car is ready for a service. The numbers show the amount of kilometres you’ve driven over the recommended amount. In other words Sir, your car was due for a service 1,200 kilometres ago.”  Oops.