A Worthless Ford and A Useless friend

A Worthless Ford , A Useless friend

This was our first roadtrip to France from the UK , via the Eurotunnel . I had been careful to contact the insurance company well in advance to increase cover , to include trips to Europe too . As previously planned , we made a short stop in Kent to catch up with my friend DJ over a meal , prior to driving into the train at Folkestone . “Oh I can see that it’s the same worthless Ford you’ve driven down in !” DJ , my cricket-mad friend cheekily smiled as I got out of the car in the visitors parking lot . I smiled as well , we shared a hug and walked out of the lift to his 2^nd floor apartment . He was off that day , had ordered lunch online for all of us and was waiting for it to be delivered home .

A year ago when I met DJ , I wasn’t smiling , I wasn’t happy . I had spent a not-so-easy 5 months away from the family with my new temporary job in the UK , eagerly waiting for my wife and kids to join me in East midlands , more or less in the middle of the United Kingdom . So far , living alone , I could get around doing almost everything using the local Arriva buses , my feet and the occasional uber ride , but as soon as the family joined me I realized we would need a car . Depending on public transport all the time was not a practical option with 3 kids aged 4-8 who could be sleepy , hungry , impatient or maybe all at the same time !!

Spending hours at a stretch on autotrader.co.uk for used cars had become my new favourite hobby . I could just keep browsing all day long . I would just change the search filters to 5 seater vs 7 seater , sedan vs SUV and within seconds , the options would change . A 5 seater hatchback seemed to be the cheapest option , but if we were to have even one visitor from India , it would be of no use , given the UK’s health and safety guidelines about each passenger in the car having their very own seat and approved seatbelts . Back home in India , travelling in fully packed vehicles is quite common , though not safe . Also the very next day after they arrived in the UK , when I checked the kids’ height and weight carefully , as per the regulations , they needed either a full car seat or a booster seat . Even my eldest was not tall enough to not need a booster . So a hatchback was out , it would be too cramped . An SUV was what I wanted to go for , but was expensive , I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend so much as I would anyway need to go back to India within the next 18 months’ when my contract expires . I had decided I would not travel more than 50 miles away from home to check out a car , no matter how good the offer seemed to be . I had invested a considerable amount of time and money on the search , even paying a few pounds to download the complete history of a few cars , all of which were very clean . This particular Ford had had only 2 previous owners , who I wanted to contact and speak to before going to see it at the dealership , but again the rules in the UK do not allow you to find out the owner from the registration number of the car hence I had to drop the idea .  Altogether the 2 previous keepers had driven it just under 8000 miles a year . Work was hardly a 12 minute drive away , and I knew I would never need the car to do that kind of mileage  , and if she somehow managed to take a family of five in and around town for the next 1 1/2 years , she’d have more than done her job . And that’s how I zeroed in on her that fateful day , at a dealership in Derby about 40 miles away .

I booked train tickets , called and spoke to the dealership to try and not sell her off before we reached , and we got there in time , as planned . The guy who showed us the cars , a young chap , was almost continuously smoking . This was a 10 year old 7-seater Ford , but just the way the engine cranked to life on turning the ignition on , I knew she had been looked after very well . I test drove 2 more cars that day , but took the Ford out for a spin not once, not twice but thrice . I wanted to be sure she had no major flaws , and I really enjoyed driving it . The only thing  I felt needed attention was the Air Con . I pointed this to the dealer , and he said “ Yeah I’m aware of that , I can either reduce  a few quid on the final price , or you could come back tomorrow to pick it up , I’ll have the  gas topped-up “ Getting back another day would be difficult , so we decided to go ahead with the sale , and drive back home . I had already done the bulk of my homework on the car even before I got to the dealership , so I was quite sure of what I was doing .

As we were waiting to make the payment , the dealer’s swipe machine seemed to be having some trouble . He explained in very clear terms that any problems within the first 72 hours , I could contact them but anything after that I’d have to directly contact the insurance cum warranty company . I knew I wouldn’t need to , the car was in good shape . We got talking , this guy was from Vietnam and had an interesting story of how he and his family got to the UK when he was 4 . His grandfather had told his Dad to somehow get to the UK , and that’s what the family did . His dad was good with cars and started off as a mechanic , but now the family owned and ran this small used cars business . He excused himself , went out , lit a cigarette and came back to try swiping the card again . My wife out of the blue suddenly asked him “ You’re so young , why do you smoke so much . This country is so beautiful , except for the smoke that pollutes it . Too many smokers ! “ I gasped . I was worried whether such blunt talk would make the guy shoo us away . But he just smiled , swiped the card , the transaction went through and after finishing the necessary paperwork , we were driving back home in the ‘ new ‘ car .

I drove it around for a week and she gave no trouble . Then I thought it would be a good idea to get it formally serviced in the local Ford dealership . I made an appointment , dropped the car off and went back at the end of the day to pick her up again . I wasn’t at all prepared for what was to follow . The staff sat me down at a table , gave me 6 pages of a colourful printout and explained to me the full extent of repairs the car needed , the estimate for which was a good 600 pounds more than what I spent in total when buying the car a week ago ! ‘I’ve been swindled’ were my first thoughts after I saw the authorized Ford dealers ‘ estimate certificate . ‘   Dejectedly I went to the car that was now parked at the pickup point, and before driving home , the words of the bespectacled lady in a black Ford t-shirt at the service counter stung me like a poisoned dart “ Is there anyway you could return the car to the Derby dealer . He should have never sold this car to you . Im sorry to say this , but to put it bluntly , this Ford is a very bad deal , it’s actually a worthle..“ I don’t know whether she did not complete the sentence or if I had shut her out by then , but those words really hurt . Ever since I started driving more than a decade ago and took an instant liking to it , I had never been so unhappy sitting behind the wheel of a car . I was down and out . I wondered if this was the dealers way of getting back at us for my wife’s smoking comment , but there was nothing I could do . It was well past the 72 hour deadline he had told us about .

The next weekend , DJ came visiting us . He didn’t drive much , and was not at all a car enthusiast . He seemed quite impressed with the car when I went to pick him up at the train station .  “ Hey that’s not bad , lots of space , 7 people can comfortably travel and you’ll still have some space in the boot for luggage . Seems like a good buy mate “ . But I told him how I had been duped , and explained the whole situation , including the Vietnamese dealer’s story . ‘ I have now blown a good part of my 5 months of savings on a worthless Ford DJ , I feel terrible ‘  . “Is that all ?” he asked rather non-chalantly . “Hey come on man , that’s just a car . And what big savings are you talking about , you’ll be able to buy a similar car in another 2 months’ time . Forget the Ford , think of the Vietnam mechanic who now ..” He kept going on , but I had stopped paying attention . And he ended his ‘pep talk’ by saying ” Just think practically , get over it and see what’s the next best thing you could do . “ ‘ But DJ’ , I interrupted , ‘ More than the money lost , what hurts is that I feel cheated . I really wish I hadn’t trusted that dealer .’ “Relax , just think it was an umpiring error that got you out today . But you can always come back and bat in the next match , can’t you . You may even score a century who knows “ Had he not been a friend for more than 2 decades right from early college days, I’m sure I’d have slapped him hard .

I was stiff feeling quite upset with myself , and DJ had nothing comforting to offer but to bring up cricket . Imagine my plight ,   new country , new place , new job , family that hasn’t even recovered from the jet lag , and I get hoodwinked big time . I didn’t tell him , but I wasn’t at all impressed with his “ friendly” advice . Right from college days I knew he could be blunt if he wanted to , but never expected DJ to be this ‘ useless ‘ . I told him that the car was so far still running fine , but I was still apprehensive of driving long distances for fear of it breaking down . “ Look, you have insured the car . Just take her out , if it breaks down , pull over and call the helpline . It’s no big deal mate ,  don’t let this unnecessary fear hold you back .” ‘ DJ for heavens sake , It’s not as simple as that ‘, I retorted angrily . ‘ Why am I even discussing this with you , you don’t even know much about cars .’  I expected an angry reply but he softly asked “ What troubles you so much “ . ‘ That I got cheated , I got duped , I got taken for a ride and that really hurts ‘ , I said angrily . After a brief pause and a smile “ No think about it matey , is that what actually irritates you ? “ DJ was not really helping me here . I wanted to hear something nice and he seemed hell bent on giving me a big lecture . I wasn’t sure of what he was trying to get at . “ Like I said just drive her wherever you want to and see what happens .” I still didn’t fully agree with him , and was wondering if I should have not even spoken to this ‘ useless ‘ friend of mine .

But slowly we started making long trips , the first one was to Cardiff, about 2 1/2 hrs away . I was very sure I’d be calling the towing company somewhere along the motorway but she got to the Wesh capital quite comfortably . ‘ Welcome to Wales ‘ signboard got the kids excited . Coz for them so far England was UK and UK was England .  This was the first time that they realized the United Kingdom comprised four different countries .  Couple of months later , the first of our many trips to Scotland happened . We were off to Edinburgh , the capital of Scotland , a 5 1/2 hour drive which made me realise she was not as bad as the Ford dealer had made it sound . At the England-Scotland border via Newcastles A1 , not Carlisle’s M6 , as we parked and clicked pictures my kids found it interesting to note how just a border laid out with a big board and a Scottish flag , some stones and rocks on either side of the road could separate two countries .  Their geography improved , they learnt to use Google maps , and we subsequently went on road trips all over the UK . Driving was a pleasure compared to driving back in India , predominantly because majority of road users actually followed rules , and anything less than 4 hours from home had become like a local trip , not just for me but for the family too . Few trips standout – two separate NC 500 ( North Coast ) roadtrips , billed as Scotland’s ‘Route 66’ were beautiful , and so was a drive from Sandown ( Isle of Wight ) down south all the way to Fort William in Scotland and another from Cornwall to John O Groats , along the length of the UK , https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Newquay,+United+Kingdom/John+o’+Groats,+United+Kingdom/@54.1828846,-12.4830871,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x486b0c115ab95687:0xc49b1af1e0545263!2m2!1d-5.073719!2d50.415497!1m5!1m1!1s0x489adf22b8be52c3:0x86f8db37f5b5c574!2m2!1d-3.0688997!2d58.6373368!3e0

to the northern tip of mainland Scotland . By now I thoroughly enjoyed my position behind the wheel , and the wife and kids loved the time spent on the roads . Starting in the morning after an early breakfast , having lunch at a Welcome Break / Services and dining at the destination had become a norm . Kids too became very comfortable with travelling , I would just say “ Ok children , we’re going on a road trip “ and within minutes their small bags would be all packed and ready . The only question they would ask was how long we were going out for , so as to pack accordingly . We had been on ferries while travelling to the Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland , Orkney Islands and to Isle of Wight . Everytime I drove into and out of a ferry , the kids used to be super thrilled . They had never been on a ferry back in India . They asked me if it was okay to think of a name for the car , and I gladly agreed . From being just a car she now had her own identity , was christened SuperMax coz she could carry anything and everything on every roadtrip , without a fuss . Even when we had to move house at the end of the 1 year contract , we could shift everything out including mattresses and sofas , after completely reclining the two rows of seats in the back , without having to hire any movers . She was just incredible . And needless to say , she had almost become the sixth family member .

As we were staring at SuperMax from his second floor window , DJ asked  “ So she hasn’t been that worthless isn’t it “ ‘ No DJ , not at all . She has taken us all over the UK , without a hitch , and now she’s taking us to Europe too . This trip on the Eurotunnel train is our first to Europe , and I hope we enjoy it . ‘ DJ went to the table , called the kids , opened the maps on his phone , asked them to point out where all they think we had travelled , and their fingers were pointing in all directions . He got back to me near the window , ‘ Don’t you think this is like hitting the ball all around the cricket ground , smacking runs on every possible side . Thanks to her you’ve scored much more than a century . And the best part is you’re not done yet , still unbeaten. “ Unlike last year , I wasn’t annoyed by his cricketing gyaan this time . I was grinning from ear to ear , extremely happy that my ‘wasted’ investment wasn’t a waste at all . “ Why don’t you ship her with you to India when you go back “ I had never thought about that . But I loved the idea .

Eurotunnel – oh the kids loved it . Driving on the left hand side of the road and into a train full of cars , and 40 minutes later driving out of that same train onto the right half of the road , was an experience in itself . Paris was just under 4 hours from Calais , my eldest pointed out after looking at the maps , and so it was like a ‘ local ‘ trip once we got out of the Channel Tunnel or simply The Chunnel . I just smiled and kept driving , telling them to remind me every 10 minutes to ‘Drive on the right , overtake on the left ‘ which they religiously did . One of the highlights was also a full day trip to Disneyland which was tiring , but very much worth it .

During the time that she was with us , SuperMax had done about 22000 miles per year on an average . I don’t know if that’s considered ‘high’ mileage or not , but that was almost 3 times more than what the previous owners had covered . Having initially insured it for 8k miles a year , I had to readjust the ‘average mileage expected’ thrice for the insurance cover to be commessurate with our roadtrips .  The only time I ever had to spend for any sort of repair was to top-up the Air Con gas in the peak of summer . And this was almost 70 times lesser than the estimate for repairs that was given to me at the Ford dealership , a price which didn’t pinch me at all .

On the way back from Paris we went to Malo-les-baines beach where Operation Dynamo ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation ) had been set in motion to evacuate British and allied soldiers from the marauding Germans during World war II , the same beach where Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ was partly shot . From Dunkirk , which was hardly 20 minutes from the Belgian border , we caught a ferry to Dover , easily the largest among all the ferries we had been on so far . Dover has the world’s largest passenger ferry terminal , and also the famous White Cliffs of Dover , ( https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-white-cliffs-of-dover ) which we visited as we drove out from the ferry terminal , using our National trust family membership . All in all our first roadtrip to Europe had been wonderful .  I had also planned another trip to Europe , a drive through Germany’s Autobahn ( with a recommended but not mandatory speed limit ) to Denmark , to drive into a ferry that transports cars , trucks and trains between the two countries . I called and spoke to DJ at the end of that trip .  “So , are you at home . Or let me rephrase myself , are you in the country at all ! ” DJ chuckled . ” Tell me , among all the cars you’ve had so far , is SuperMax the one that you and your family love the most ?”  ‘Undoubtedly Yes’ I answered without a hesitation . “And what do you think the reason is ? “ ‘ Oh that’s easy DJ , because she’s taken us not only around the UK , but to Europe too . And if everything goes to plan , she’ll take us back to Europe for more trips . Plus she’s taught my kids geography and some world war history too in the best way possible , and she never complained one bit ‘

“ Are you sure that’s the reason ? Think about it mate , she took you around UK and Europe coz , geographically speaking , she was very strategically located as compared to any of the cars you’ve had in India . But is that what really makes her special . Do you by any chance remember what the lady at the Ford dealership said !“ He had a point , this ‘useless’ friend of mine who I thought had no idea about cars . What actually made the Ford special was the fact that she was supposedly a bad deal , a car which the dealer should never have sold , a car I should never have bought , a car which I should have never wasted my precious savings on . That worthless Ford became SuperMax , and unflinchingly carried a family of five all over England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland , and also Europe , giving them memories that would last a lifetime .

I could not ship her to India , as the rules would not allow any car older than 5 years to be taken out of the country . The trip to Germany and Denmark too did not work out , but SuperMax had ticked all the boxes , which she was never expected to . She never gave me any chance to complain . I sold her off with a heavy heart , just one day before I left the country . She will , for me and my family , always be the irreplaceable SuperMax , earning that extra zing courtesy some tough harsh words from an authorized dealer .

And that’s when it came back to me strongly , DJ’s advice when he visited us a year ago “ Forget the Ford , think of the Vietnam mechanic who now owns his own car business . Remember you’re not a car or a machine . You are alive , you are still fit and working and you have your whole life ahead of you . Whatever you spent on the car is peanuts mate . Not worth worrying about it . Just coz the lady said it doesn’t mean this Ford is useless . Never let what others say trouble or define you . Just think practically , get over it and see what’s the next best thing you could do . “

Yes thanks to DJ I will always remind myself that I’m not a car or a machine . I sincerely feel getting an opportunity to drive a written-off ‘ worthless ‘ Ford all over the place was an unexpected boon in itself . I have a cricket-crazy , ‘useless’ friend in Kent who taught me I should think practically and never let what others say trouble or define me – and that is always a much bigger blessing .