Driving along yesterday in gusty conditions, I heard a loud clunk on the roof of my car (Honda Civic 9th gen) as I passed a row of oak trees. Got home to discover the cover of the shark fin antenna was missing leaving the circuitry exposed. I returned to the scene of the crime and, despite a thorough inspection of the ditches and hedges on both sides, could not find the missing article. I can only suppose it was partly dislodged by the impact and blew off somewhere further along the road.

Called in to the local Honda dealership to enquire if a replacement cover was a possibility – no, the whole assembly has to be replaced requiring the headliner to be removed, and that would be £480, madam.

A quick trawl of owners’ forums reveals that this is not that uncommon, the wretched things can be broken off simply when washing the car and the only effective long term solution is to replace the whole antenna. The cover is attached by screws up through the base – the cover itself is just ordinary plastic and so becomes a bit fragile with age and exposure to the elements.

I found a Youtube video showing how to fit it but I do not think myself competent to have a go - grab handles, light cover, pillar trim etc all have to be removed with considerable potential for breaking something.

So the car is booked into my ever-obliging indy a month hence – the manager is going to do it himself and reckons two hours’ labour at £60 per hour, plus around £190 for the part. Has to be done and it’s a sensible price compared to the dealership quote. Just means driving around with plastic taped over the circuitry for the time being.

So annoying to have to fork out on something peripheral like this. though.