OFF TOPIC 2: Polestar 4 and 2 again.

 Well, the saga continued...

 The Polestar 4 *IS* an excellent car, but it also the reason I won't be getting a Polestar as my next car, or any time soon.

 

I do really love the ideas and the technological aspirations of the Polestar 4, and in any other area of life I'd probably put up with the niggles (and the dashcam's inability to stick to the windscreen) and work around them, but...

 I had the Polestar 4 for nearly 2 months, and knew I had to give it back soon, so far so good, I was enjoying the car and actually dreading going back to my 'little' Polestar 2, despite the quirks of the navigation saying I was about 200m away from where I acually was on a regular basis, but then it happened... 

 One morning I went down to the car to drive my Son to college and no Driver assist - odd, think I. Sure that a simple 'reboot' would solve the issue, after delivering him. I got out, opened and closed all the doors, and windows. Powered the car down and got back in again... no joy, nothing doing... 

 Then I notice that a software update is due, great, think I, that'll be it then. I do the update as soon as I can and carry on my merry way for the nexgt couple of days (still no driver assist, cameras or pings as I got close to things), maybe I've just missed a setting in the car's console, but you can't do anything while driving along, so it'll have to wait. Then I notice the speed signs aren't showing up in the drivers info/dashboard - what IS going on.

 A quick search through the forums gets me nowhere except info that some 4s were recalled due to camera problems in the states. Also that an infotainment reboot might help - so I follow the instructions for that.. But there is no home button... I also try the TCAM reset as described by Polestar support (a couple of buttons on the steering wheel) that at least turns the Infotainment system off and on again.. BUT no, no driver assist, no reversing camera, no pings when you get too close, even the (hated) lane stray system not working - I dread to think if the collision avoidance was working or not (I never had the guts to try it). 

But I'm not too phased, its not actually mine and is going back on Sunday... Except.. I get to the garage and my PS2 is nowhere to be seen, after about half an hour of searching a salesman comes to see me and lets me know that it is blocked in and can't be moved. Also they have no instructions as to whether it is ready to be picked up, it hasn't been cleaned, and (blah, blah, I switched off at this point). Upshot, it's more than his jobs worth to let me drive away in it, should something happen...  Ho Hum, think I, it's fine I still have a car, just have to be extra careful, and I'll get the other one back soon. As I was driving away I noticed my car had been pulled around to the side of the garage, but I couldn't be bothered going back...

 Another week goes by and I'm more than ready to give up on the PS4, so glitchy, still no camera's and everything I try comes to naught.  So I head back down to Crawley, and decide to use the 'wasted' journey to try out another makes cars - so I head to the BYD dealership and am V. impressed with the look and feel of the cars, give the Seal and the Atto 3 a test drive - both impress, but the Seal is in the same ballpark as the PS2 and in many respects better (one niggle, no map on the driver info behind the steering wheel). It pulls away in a refreshingly brisk manner and drives, imho, better than the PS4 and what I can remember of the PS2. The Seal's cavernous boot swallows everything I had in the PS4 and then some (it is a saloon, so...), including 3 nets, 2 bags of balls, a bunch of paddles, and my kit bag (and some other odds and sods) - it doesn't look like it's as big as the PS4s boot but... For a bigger boot I'd go for the Sea Lion - but that is a fair bit more expensive, especially the top of the range edition. But the top of the range Seal (Excellence), comes with AWD, 0-60 in 3.6s, 320 miles range (or more, the 'basic' version (design?) actually has more range) and has a few more bells and whistles. This would be cheaper to lease then my basic PS2...

 The Atto 3 is more on a par with the MGS5, but better, much better (we'd test driven the MG recently, as we'd been impressed by the MG5 and MG4 when they came out - I came away thinking they'd slid backwards with the MGS5, but yearning to try the MG Cyberster... A beautiful sports convertible for the Electric Age). Though some design decisions were questionable - probably to attract the younger generation...

 

Anyway, back to the Polestar. I turn up and, yes, my car is ready, so we transfer everything over back to the PS2, noticing the boot is siginificantly fuller than the Seal's had been. The driver who brought it around looked frazzled and said it was VERY hot in my car - which we just put down to it being a HOT day. Got in and headed off, thinking the AC would cut in soon.. By the time we'd driven a couple of miles we got the impression it wasn't coming on and opened the windows.. By the time we got home it must surely start blowing cool .. but no, it continues blowing hotter air than outside over our already sweaty bodies (this was late June). So again I try everything I can over the weekend, including updating the software, and restarting all the systems. Nothing doing.

I call Polestar support first thing on Monday, they get me to try some of the steps I'd already tried, again with no joy, and say that it will need to go back into the garage.. Would an appointment in Leatherhead on 17th July be appropriate? Hah! No... Not when I need to drive to Oxford and back this weekend - and with a heatwave about to break too!

They manage to get me an appt back at the Crawley garage on Wednesday instead, and set about arranging a courtesy Polestar... So I get a call from LCH (who had provided the PS4), and answer thinking they had a car ready for me.. No.. they want me to delete my profile off of the PS4 - which I had (obviously) done before it handed it back! Another call to Polestar support (they must know my number by now and be trying to avoid me) - gives me instructions how to delete it from the Polestar app and assure me it will be gone from the PS4 within minutes... So I think nothing more of it.

 Then Enterprise call me... OK... So they say will an ICE Volvo suit me.. No.. I don't want an ICE, having got used to Electric I see no reason why I should compromise - and where is my promised Polestar anyway? Have they got ANY electric cars I can have - no, say they. None? Well they do have some EX30s but they can't guarantee me one I'll get a random one when I turn up at their offices ... 

 Not good enough, think I, having had the luxury of a PS4 and my PS2, and believing the Lease would sort me out. I get another call from LCH - can they have the PIN so they can delete my profile from the PS4 ... no they can't - it would give them access to my Google Profile!!

 Groan - and Monday comes to an end nothing sorted.

Tueday rolls around, and I call Polestar to find out what sort of car I can expect and from where.. They say they'll chase it up and keep me informed... OK... (I hear nothing until later that evening).

Then LCH call me again, begging for the PIN. No, say I, again. All goes quiet, I get busy at work.. When I surface later in the day I've not heard from anyone (Oh, and ID/Three mobile won't let me receive or make calls/txts - just tell me missed calls - fortunately I work out a workaround using Alexa to make calls for me from my mobile - it works to call any UK number, and possible foreign ones too...) So I call LCH again, answering a missed call from them, thinking "This time they'll have me a car". No such luck, it is, instead another call begging for the PIN, and saying they would like the supervisor to talk to me, which I allow. We have a brief conversation wherein I give in.. but... only if they will sort me out another Polestar for Thursday and only if they will 1) turn off their recording 2) stay on the line while it is used - I can tell from the Google dashboard which devices are logged on and log them off if necessary so I'm actually pretty safe, and it was a different PIN to my others so no real danger...

I have to go back to Polestar to get them to raise a fresh request for a car so the supervisor can sort it out for me, and I call LCH back to let them know it is on the way - only to find the supervisor has gone home - which is fine.

But I don't hear from anyone (except when I chase them during the day) until the next evening when I'm told a Polestar will be available at the garage on Thursday between 10 and 10:30.. And sure enought it is, an offwhite 2024 Polestar 2 AWD... Which goes like the clappers - so fast off the mark that it takes a few miles to get used to... 

 One final twist, my PS2 updated its software on Wednesday night, and was, subequently incredibly slow and Laggy the next morning, so much so that it didn't properly load maps until I was back down in Crawley.

 Friday I find out the AC's compressor has gone, and they'll need to replace it - they have agreement from the Lease company but it will still take a while, oh and it will cost £300+VAT to repair a small scratch on the side of the car...(not enough to be worthwhile claiming on the insurance, but galling nonetheless, given I'm pretty sure they did the damage in the first place - but I can't prove it).

So the 2024 PS2 is a joy to drive, if not to get in and out of with my dodgy knee - but it got me to and from Oxford today and swalowed all of my eldest's stuff with some space spare - fortunately it was just the two of us....

I now await the return of my Shadowfax, while I think on a name for my loaner PS2 - Sleipnir has already gone to the PS4... Another Mythical horse name needed... (Not Pegasus - that's for my first flying car).