Nigel Fryatt – contributor
You always have some interesting adventures with a 4×4, and, recently, we were driving the RAV down a remote country lane on the south coast, near Pagham, and completely out of the blue we came across, rather appropriately, a ‘Blue Plaque’. Strangely, there were no buildings around, all appeared to be rather uninspiring, bleak and very flat farmland.
Stopping to check it out, we found we were actually driving over RAF Selsey and that from these fields, Spitfires and Typhoons, piloted by English, Belgian, French and Kiwi pilots, took off to give cover for the Allied D-Day invasion forces in 1944. Looking over these innocuous fields, on a very peaceful autumn day, it makes you stop and think, that’s for sure, especially as when we were there it was very close to the date of the Battle of Britain anniversary. As we say, you have some interesting drives in a 4×4.
Since that’s the case, it helps if the 4×4’s interior environment is pleasant, and in the RAV, recently, it was getting a little ‘iffy’, especially each time we used the windscreen washers. After investigation, we found the source of the unpleasant ‘rotten egg’ smell was the washer bottle which appeared to have some stagnant water at the bottom. All attempts to find a simple way of draining the bottle failed, so it was left for me to siphon the disgusting water out; and that’s not pleasant. A tip here, if you have to siphon rancid water from a washer bottle, have a beer close by… to drink immediately after you’ve fi nished and help flush out your own mouth!
Having then flushed the washer with clean water we followed this up with a new product from Autoglym, air-conditioning sanitizer. Not only does this help get rid of ‘unpleasant’ odours, it is also claimed to clean the system and kill bacteria. Very simple to use, and it improved the interior of our RAV so it is to be recommended.
The Toyota suffered a minor accident this month, while parked in a car park, resulting in a scraped front bumper. The culprit owned up and has agreed to pay repair costs. Taking the RAV into a repair shop for a quote we were staggered that it would cost £370 and take three days as it will involve removing the whole bumper. A salutary lesson and we are thankful for the honesty of the person concerned, so that we don’t have to pay!
SPECS
Model: Toyota RAV4
Spec: NV VVTi
Mileage: 89,770
MPG: 28.9
Recent costs: Autoglym air-con sanitizer, £11.99 one beer and insurance claim to come
Arrived: June ‘10
