Had my MOT done today. Took surprisingly low amount of time — I dropped the car off at 10:30 for the 11:00 appointment and they called me back at 2pm saying it was done.
They had a check-in process where you sign in, and deposit the car keys (with a tag saying which bay you had parked the car) into a small locker and that signals the mechanic you have left your keys. It’s contactless so you are never near another human.
My daily walk as a result, was much later than normal.
Had to shop for more milk, so went up to Tesco but they didn’t have the organic milk needed. Went to Sainsbury’s instead and they did.
Booked my MOT, but they said they did not have any “While you wait” slots for that date so it would be booked as a drop-off.
So instead, I booked for this weekend.
The showroom is only a single bus ride (plus a 15-minute walk) so it’s not too bad.
Forgot to log this yesterday.
Was another wet and windy day, didn’t really do much of a walk, and just managed to walk to the local Co-op to get some milk in the pouring rain.
Toyota later called me advising my MOT on the Yaris was due next month and I should book in the MOT.
Did that today and surprised that they offer a “While you wait” MOT that you can drop the car off and wait for them to do the MOT and then pick it up afterwards.
Next available slot for that is in two weeks. Still in good time for the 9th June deadline where the MOT expires.
Installed more apps that were missing from my phone and set most of them up. Did my walk as normal, no issues there. Had to re-pair my phone with my car since everything was reset, though.
As you probably are aware, I now own a Yaris. And today, I got surprised when Toyota UK on Twitter linked in a tribute to their Corolla AE86 on their Twitter feed, namely the Corolla GT86, although disappointingly, there was no Eurobeat on the trailer.
For those of you who don’t know, the AE86 is the car used by Fujiwara Takumi in the Initial D anime series, a young man doing early morning tofu deliveries down a winding mountain pass, learning how to drift as he went, and minimising the jerky movements of the car, since tofu is an extremely fragile food.
Toyota made reference to this also in my Yaris by adding an app to the car called “A Glass of Water” which simulates having a glass of water in the car, and when you finish your journey, it tells you how much water you would have spilt had you had a real glass of water in your car.
Takumi’s father used this same technique while training him. Putting a glass of water in his cup holder and Takumi would try to minimise the amount of spillage during his delivery run.
I am impressed how Toyota have been embracing the references to their cars in the anime, and when I mentioned this on my office’s slack, surprisingly some people also got the reference ^_^
TfL finally replied and my application for exemption of the CC is refused. Even though my car meets the CO2 emissions requirement, it doesn’t meet the 20-mile EV requirement (must be table to travel 20 miles with zero emissions.)
Details on this article: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-6516655/Electric-cars-no-longer-Congestion-Charge-exempt-London-2025.html
They refunded the £10 I paid for registration.
However, I may still be able to get an exemption. Since my dad also uses my car and he’s registered disabled, he may be able to register my car as a blue-badge holder, which gives 100% exemption.
Went to get my spare key from Toyota. Took them 2 hours to get my car into the workshop and get the key reprogrammed. They left a sign in my car when they were done. They had also washed and cleaned the car in the process.
A mobile coffee truck came along while I was waiting outside for the car to be done. I got a coffee while I waited
Gloomy day, but still hot and muggy with occasional showers.
My hire car finally got picked up, exactly 8 weeks after it was delivered.
Had a moan at Toyota over email — they confirmed my appointment to get the key reprogrammed, but attempted to sneak a £10 charge in, for “a 40-point surface point clean”
Considering I’m only going back there due to a mistake made by their mechanic and paint damage caused by them, I shouldn’t be paying for any of that.
Charges are waived.
Mixed weather today — rain and sun. Went and got some walking done.
Toyota contacted me saying they have my spare key (the mechanic apparently lost it after programming it and they needed to order a new one – to the tune of £250 cost).
I’ll need my take my car back to let them program the key, and hopefully get the dinks in the paintwork fixed.
The next appointment is next Monday, so I’ll head up after my daily meeting.
During my walk, the hire car company finally called asking for their car back, they’re coming to collect tomorrow, so I topped up the car to make sure they don’t fine me for not having enough fuel.
My V5C arrived this morning. So I can use that to check and apply for my CCharge discount eligibility. I already know the car is exempt from ULEZ and LEZ.
Though it does seem the CCharge will be chargeable for all cars from 2025 and exemption for EV only from 2021.
So remind me again, why should people buy a EV or hybrid if they don’t get any benefits?
My Toyota Roadside Assistance confirmation form also arrived, it’s Toyota branded, but the assistance is provided by the AA.
Barclaycard emailed me. Time to pay my credit card bill…
Blender Fox 
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