I had to take the Elise for the annual inspection (called MOT over here, it's emissions & safety) today. So far, so good but as usual in GRM-land some parts weren't yet attached to the car, cluttering up the house instead. No problem, I had given myself about 5 hours to clean the car, put everything (really just the battery, but that's an utter pig to get at) together and breeze through the inspection.
First thing I noticed was that I had done my back in again. This tends to happen from time to time when I'm stressed (and of course an international move in about 7 weeks time is causing no stress at all). Putting a battery in like that would be fun. And it was. Ouch.
Anyway, car suitably cleaned and off to the inspection we go.
It failed. OK, I knew the tyres were borderline, the tester agreed but we didn't really agree which side of the border they were on. He obviously won. That'll be about GBP260 for the cheap option to get the car legal and back on the road.
And then the killer - no brakelights whatsoever. I go "but I saw them light up as you drove it onto the ramps" - tester went "well, let's try again then" - no brakelights. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Lotus electrics fairy struck midway during the test . Turned out to be a sticking switch which I'll change to be on the safe side (and needless to say, it's barely accessible).
Oh, and I seem to have misplaced the title for the 911 so I have to wait until the replacement turns up before I can put any effort into selling that one. This "selling cars before you move" lark really isn't going too well at the moment.
Sorry for venting here.