Are they colour blind at Renault?

After a few days of will we - won't we write off the car, the repairers decided to fix it. That's bad, because I don't get to use my special insurance against getting ripped off by the insurance company to claim the whole purchase price of the car. But it's good, because I can get a courtesy car and be mobile right away. Or so I thought...

Apparently they didn't have any cars. It must be accident and theft season or something out there, but all their cars were being used. I rang them back the next day, and the story wasn't much better. But wait...

"Can you drive an automatic?"
"Yes"
"Well we do have a car then"

Good, I thought. Maybe I'll get a nice one.

I managed to scrounge a lift to the garage (thanks, Phu!) and collected my car. Let me say right away that it's great to be mobile again. And the folks at the garage were wonderfully helpful and efficient. But it's an interesting car - I didn't know you could get automatics that small. And a couple of scrapes and a radio that doesn't quite work are a small price to pay for being mobile - I wouldn't have wanted to wait for another day or two while they tidied everything up.

Driving an automatic again is odd - I keep stamping on the floor where the clutch should be, and reaching for the gears as I pull out of junctions. It's going to be an interesting week...

So if you see a small and slightly battered-looking Clio in the next week or so, with writing on the side, and a body colour that can best be described as metallic mustard (are they colour blind at Renault?) look out -- it's likely to be me!

And if the wipers come on as I approach a junction, I'm probably about to turn. You have been warned.