It’s a fine line between lucky & reckless, sometimes I struggle to distinguish between the two. I spoke to a guy with a 335i convertible for sale way up in Glasgow, it’s dripping with spec & we’re just out of lockdown so I’m itching to buy.

It’s cheap for a reason, major water leak during the MOT which was abandoned. All the history you could want, looks fantastic in the pictures and the seller is ‘motivated’, which means I could pick up a bargain? We agree a date & that he will pick me up from the train station, he also tells me the price is non-negotiable as it’s worth every penny.

I get to the station & the reality of my stupidity hits me when I call him from the station & he doesn’t answer…what if doesn’t turn up? As I stand admiring the beautiful architecture that is Glasgow Central my phone rings, he’ll be outside in 20 minutes. Game on!

We get to his house, drop the roof & go on a road test to confirm the performance envelope & all is well until the coolant warning light comes on. We go back to his & as I put the roof back up it just stops. Mid-way. We try again & it stops again.

We top up the coolant & drive to his garage, the mechanic comes out & he tries the roof, it stops mid-way. He tries various things before telling us the roof is faulty.

And then I had an idea.

What I should have said is can someone give me a lift back to the station as it’s freezing cold & I have a long journey back home. What I actually said is, I’ll give you 5k as it sits, right here, right now.

He looks at me for a moment before refusing. Just to put this into context we had agreed 6.5k on the phone. I then remind him that he has a car that leaks water during every journey, has 3 days MOT with a roof that doesn’t go up in freezing overnight conditions. For both of us, this couldn’t get much worse, so I offer to help him out of his situation by taking his problem away.

He makes a couple of phone calls, one of which got quite heated, then says one word. Okay.

He confirms my payment & I go to the nearest petrol station, throw a quick prayer to the man upstairs & go for it!

I’m now driving on the motorway, with the roof down in 3°. I can’t begin to tell you how cold I was! I’m in real pain when I see the sign for the services so I pull in to warm up in the restaurant. As I park up, I try the roof one last time……it goes up! I pop the bonnet to let it cool down whilst I finish my sandwiches & top up the water.

Luckily I didn’t have to stop again until I got home. The steady cruise with the almost freezing air kept it cool enough so the pump did very little. Amazingly I got home in one long, warm drive.

The next day I fitted a new pump & thermostat assembly, MOT’d, washed & vac’d it out. And every time I tried the roof it worked perfectly!

Do I know what happened to it in Glasgow, no. I rolled the dice & they came back favourably for me. It could have been anything, the car could have failed its MOT or overheated on the journey home.

The best bit? Coming out of lockdown car prices increased, result! Was I lucky or reckless, you tell me?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas