Preparing for winter mode

The weather has been unseasonably warm during the first weeks of October, making it a good time to get out and perform a few checks on your pride and joy, plus other cars in your fleet. Our lead feature, starting on page 6, will hopefully guide you through the simple steps that you should be taking before the winter really sets in.

For me, I should find time to attend to a rain water leak on the CM project Rover 75, which is still in my possession. The passenger cabin footwell gets flooded each time we have a substantial downpour. It needs to be parked in my garage if rain is looming – which is every day this week!

Apparently, a tube runs from the sunroof to a T-piece connector located low down on the A-pillar, where it is most likely blocked with crud. I just need to extract the glovebox and side trim to get to it. It’s one of those jobs that I’ve been putting off but really need to get round to tackling before the temperature starts to plummet.

My Audi A8 has been at the local VAG specialists this week for an injector seal renewal. The reason I mention this now is that I have been thinking of driving the plush saloon to Portugal this month – a 3000-mile round trip – but yet to book anything. It won’t be long before the V8 oil-burner is banned from most French towns due to the emission target limits being introduced soon.