A new addition...

I'm now the owner of an Acclaim. I'd seen the car on eBay and I seriously considered putting a bid in but decided to let it pass me by. Imagine my surprise when the owner was offering the very same car for FREE on the Club Triumph forum so I enquired about the car. I e-mailed the owner and he replied saying that he would take £50 for the car and leave the tax in. There was some welding needed on the rear floor by the wheel arch. I met up with Stephen the owner at a meeting just outside Preston on Thursday 28th April (which was the day the MoT was due to run out) and had a chat. We arranged to have a look at the car the following day as was I off work. Stephen told me about a few minor faults. These were a key which had broken in the drivers' door lock, the rev counter not working and the radio aerial had been snapped off by vandals. I wasn't bothered by these as I can easily fix them. The car was at Totally Triumph in Cheshire and it started up from cold without any problems. I took it for a short drive and it performed faultlessly despite the fact that not being used to the clutch the drive was a bit jerky when changing gear! (fault of the driver not the car) We had the Acclaim on the ramps and I had a good look underneath. It was absolutely solid. Max the guy at Totally Triumph reckoned that the car would pass the MoT so I decided to have the welding done (charged on the amount of labour which was 3 hours at £20 per hour which I thought was very reasonable) and get it in for the test. Money and documents were exchanged and the Acclaim was mine. The welding was arranged and the test was booked for the following Wednesday and the car arranged to be picked up on the Saturday. I had a look on eBay for a Haynes manual but a bid in for one at 99p and won the auction! As the seller lived locally I thought I would save myself some postage and collect the book. On the way there I was involved in an accident so while my everyday car is off the road I might have to put the Acclaim into daily use. I phoned Totally Triumph up on Wednesday and I was told that the car had failed on a small hole in the drivers' side sill and Max reckoned that it would be a maximum of 2 hours welding to put it right so I gave hom the go-ahead to do it. I insured the car with Lancaster Insurance who gave me the lowest quote at £153 fully comprehensive (this was a couple of hours before I had the accident!) including travelling to and from work. The insurance documents arrived yesterday so I'm all set now. I'd also bid for a handbook on eBay and won that auction too! The book arrived in the post today so another eBay bargain! Roll on Saturday!