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If it's one of the fronts you'd expect the noise to get worse as you turn, i.e. when the weight goes onto whichever is the bad wheel.

Mention it quietly, but SWMBO may have put a wet umbrella in the boot.  She says not, but... 

So, is the only solution to get the affected wheels refurbished?

Yes, in my experience. I ultimately had all four done on my old 9-5 saloon and I've had all four done on my current 9-5 estate.

Oh lord really? My 9-5 is on its last legs and I have been eyeing a V90 as a kind of sibling. But I don't want keeping my next car on the road to be the project that this has been.

Hi Tom,
I'm so glad my days of worrying what will be the next thing to go wrong are behind me after around 200,000 miles across my 9-5 and a previous Citroen Xantia, (admittedly I might be tempting fate with my Audi A4 Avant) but maybe it's worth a look at a Skoda Superb estate?  Obviously I don't know what your budget is, but having had two Octavias then a Karoq, and several friends also have nothing but praise for various Skodas, I have nothing but praise for the brand. (No connection other than as a customer.)

Meanwhile, compliments of the season to everyone.

Thanks Geoff - yes, I will definitely look closely at a Superb Estate, the reviews are unignorably excellent.

Meanwhile, fears are growing for the other Swedish brand..

Oh lord really? My 9-5 is on its last legs and I have been eyeing a V90 as a kind of sibling. But I don't want keeping my next car on the road to be the project that this has been.

I haven't seen 150w bulbs in ages.  My parents used them in the single light fitting in the front room of their old Victorian house.

(Snap. We used 150w in the larger rooms in our previous [Victorian] house, till we realised they were melting the fittings!)

I don't have a heater in my garage but I do run a dehumidifier when it climbs above 60%rh, in order to keep condensation off my various two-wheeled toys, though as an upside that also makes it more usable for storing things that would otherwise suffer in a damp garage. Worth considering for that reason. That has the effect of a warming up the space too. I couldn't really comment on running costs cos it's just something I've always done. I suspect the cheapest way of simply heating the space would be a plug-in oil-filled rad?

I had a look at mine when we had this discussion previously and - tempting fate ... - insofar as I could ascertain, via looking and groping, there seemed surprisingly little corrosion. I actually checked my invoices expecting to find that they had been done at some point, but they haven't. I'll be monitoring them a bit more closely from now.

Belated but no less sincere best wishes!

Are they worth the candle Will? I'd spend so much time worrying that they weren't accurate that I'd be checking the pressures manually anyway ...

Commiserations. It's dismaying to hear this of the AA. I currently have both AA and Britannia (for complicated reasons) and one's experiences are so variable. In the last few years AA have on one occasion been lightning quick, and another very slow. Britannia's European arm were terrible on a recent breakdown in France, requiring multiple / angry calls for anything to happen, and excellent on a domestic callout requiring a recovery truck.

At least it's at Joe's now; good luck and keep us posted.

Car went off on a recovery truck this morning. For the second time in three weeks ...

I'll update.

It was a slowish leak - but alas my test run on Saturday seems to have significantly aggravated it. The cardboard underneath is soaked through and having replaced that this morning it's still dripping constantly. And whereas the reservoir held a few cms before it's now empty. So I fear that the top-up and leg-it strategy maybe too risky. Aaaaaaaaagh.

On the basis of the cardboard underneath (and not any close scrutiny on my part) I would say - yes exactly!

Clear diagnosis now - leak. The level was constant with the car unused, but yesterday morning I filled it to the half-way point and did a c20-mile round trip. Car was fine, no ominous noises. Popped cardboard under the engine on return. Checked this morning and there's a small puddle of green fluid underneath, reservoir is down. So as we suspected all along the French garage addressed symptom and not cause and replaced the PAS pump without spotting the leak. Very frustrating.