Break it down!

A weird thing happened today.

I took my car in for a warrant, naturally expecting (hoping) everything will be fine, and I'm told that there are three things I need to fix before I'll get the warrant. I get the impression from the guy that they're pretty minor, 1) replace a blown rear brake light bulb; 2) top-up power steering fluid level; 3) Remove or replace lower front strut due to missing bolt.

I've been driving for months not having any problems, let alone any idea that at any minute a strut from under my car could fall off. Sure enough, after driving 10 minutes from the testing station, said strut proceeds to partially fall off generating a cacophony of scraping sounds. I have three theories: 1) The bolt has been missing a long time, and I've just been lucky not to dislodge the strut; 2) I lost the bolt this morning on the way to the testing station for whatever reason; 3) the testing station guy somehow removed or loosened it himself in the process of checking out my car. I figure it's too much of a coincidence for it to be 1), and surely the guy isn't such an asshole for it to be 3).

Fortunately at the top of the hill I breakdown on is a mechanic, who obligingly removes the strut to stop it scraping, and I'm told that "Not all cars even have that strut, and it's up to you if you put it back on." He was a nice guy, and didn't charge anything which was great and in my experience rather un-mechanic-like. Sorry any mechanics out there, but in my experience I always feel ripped off by them.

The moral of the story is: #h&@!