02 Aug 07
In all fairness to Dees, they did a good job: the part came earlier than they expected, they were waiting for me at the appointed time, and the service was friendly and informative. They were just a little bamboozled by Ford's latest technology. But was that the garage's fault or Ford's?
Whatever the answer, the episode does raise the question of whether, as car technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, car companies are keeping the mechanics in the front line fully trained and kept up to date with the latest developments.
And Ford dealerships will need to come to terms with some of the fancier gadgets on the S-Max pretty soon, if the proliferation of them around my part of south London is anything to go by. The number of them parked up in the streets around Tooting and Wandsworth has risen quite markedly in the last few months. As the area has been dubbed 'nappy valley' by newspapers, and is said to be more chattering class than Islington, it makes sense that a stylish -looking MPV will start to make headway, even among the Beemers, Mercs and premium 4x4s that fill the local roads.
And if there weren't enough S-Maxes around, the annual tennis jamboree in nearby Wimbledon last month added to them, as Hertz supplied some to drive the players and officials around.
The hire company supplies cars and drivers to the tennis championships every year, so they're a commonplace sight around the whole of south London during June and early July. But this is the first year they've used the S-Max, so they seemed to be everywhere I turned for weeks.
I might just have to escape to France for a week so the S-Max can stand out again...
