Hi all,

On Sunday night I discovered I had an un-repairable puncture. Anyway I decided to change it after work. I have had trouble getting the wheels off before but on this occasion after a ridiculously long time trying to move the wheel (including knocking it with a mallet) I decided I simply wasn't going to be able to shift it. Air wouldn't go in the tyre and by this point all the local garages had closed. As I needed the car early the next morning I reluctantly decided to use my RAC membership but then remembered I only had roadside recovery and not home call out. (Add £60 upgrade cost and cost of Toyo Tyre). Whilst changing my wheel the RAC bloke informed me that one of my shock absorbers was goosed and I decided it best to change them as a pair (add cost of two shocks). This all happened a few days before yesterday when my car was booked in to have a powerflow exhaust fitted (add cost of exhaust). Luckily the garage that was fitting my exhaust (Westgate Tyres in Morecambe) were fantastic and said they could fit a new tyre and source/fit my shock absorbers whilst my car was with them. The service was fantastic but I came away a little lite-headed after handing over a handful of purple notes!

Lessons learned - grease between the alloy and wheel and wait until you have enough money for a mod Plus Spare before booking your car in

Still, now it is all done my car sounds absolutely fantastic (IMO). Sporty, but not too loud and chavvy - even my Mum approved

Will post a pic up when I get a min