It’s too hot I’m having a breakdown!

It is predicted to be possibly the hottest day of the year so the Vogue family made a decision to head out of town to the coast to visit some friends by the sea. This is preferable to me than blowing up and filling the paddling pool in the garden. 
The car was packed with all the items you need for the beach. We navigated our way through the post lockdown Friday traffic of North London and joined the M25. 
The music was banging out of the speakers and as I drove I dreamt of my seafood platter lunch and delicious fish and chips for dinner staring out at the big blue. 



The temperature on the dashboard revealed a steaming 40 degrees outside but the air conditioning was doing a great job of keeping us all cool. 

As we neared the M3 the traffic slowed for an incident ahead and as we slowed down to stop the engine stalled and then failed to restart. We had broken down on the M25 just before Junction 12 - in the middle lane!

Mrs Vogue immediately made a 999 call to report our predicament. We were told to stay in the car and await the arrival of the police. We also contacted the RAC who mercilessly were only a short way a way and as we had kids and a dog in the car we were high priority. The breakdown gods appeared to be on our side. 

Fifteen minutes later and we were still waiting stuck in the car in the middle of the Surrey stretch of the busiest motorway in the country. I was nervously watching cars behind move out of our lane and pass by on either side. We discussed whether we should get out and try to get to the hard shoulder. No options seemed safe. 

Following another 999 call by Mrs Vogue the police arrived without incident, they closed the road, apologies if you were in this queue, and pushed us to the hard shoulder. 

Directly the  RAC man arrived and quickly diagnosed a problem with the fuel pump. After taking the back seats apart and fiddling with the power connection the car started fine and the fuel pump was fixed. Brilliant. He told us that he thought we were safe to continue but wasn’t sure why fiddling with the connection should have made a difference. He advised us that to be on the safe side to have a new fuel pump fitted in the next few weeks. Just for peace of mind. 

He then followed us to the next junction to check that all was well, our road test, the car behaved impeccably and we waved goodbye to this very nice man as he peeled off the motorway. 

Hurrah, slightly delayed but back on our way to the sea. 

Well, not quite. This is my view now. I am currently sitting on the side of the A3 watching the traffic go by waiting for an RAC tow truck to take me back to London. The fuel pump in question didn’t quite make it to Guildford. 

The day trip for Ed is over. 

A stupid breakdown shouldn’t disrupt everybody’s fun. So as I wait what could be four hours for support, Mrs Vogue and the Vogers have continued their journey to the sea by taxi and train. Which is I think is fantastic by the way. And me?  I’m looking forward to a ride in the cab of the RAC van. I’ll let you know how I got on...

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