Disclaimer: The people in this column are composites of gentlemen (and some women) I have met over many years of car buying and repairing. No one person is real, but a combination of several: car salesmen, service managers, mechanics and secretaries.
You would think, after being the proud owner of several cars, I would not be surprised when a visit to a car dealership or a mechanic’s shop turns out to be an unpleasant experience.
From my first car, a Fiat 850, to my current ride, a Chevy Tracker, each car has had some problems. That is to be expected. Cars wear out. They get tortured in collisions or they simply die.
Whatever. A trip to buy a new one or to have your current model fixed should not be cause for an upset stomach or a headache. Nor should it make a woman wish she was a big strong guy, preferably with a badge and a gun. I can’t imagine anyone messing with a cop over a car.
For one ride, I did the research on the Web, figured out what I wanted, what color (red) and how much I wanted to spend a month. Why, oh why, did I end up with a vehicle that did not have the options I wanted, was the wrong color (white) and was way more than I wanted to spend. Why didn’t I have the guts to just say, “NO”?
I didn’t take Auto Mechanics 101 in junior high school. I took shop, where I learned to use a jigsaw and how to rewire a lamp — both skills that still come in handy. Why do I feel as if I should have taken the auto course?
Because a mechanic’s shop is NO place for logic.
Logic I am good at, but I am not good at auto-speak. When the service manager of the local Chevy dealership said I needed a new battery, I said OK, put one in. They didn’t have one.
First I asked the service manager why I needed a new battery. Many reasons, “blah blah — not generating enough power — blah blah — low this or that — blah blah.”
OK, I’ll go buy one and put it in myself. But guess what? The person at the auto parts store took a few minutes, tested my battery this way and that, and said I didn’t need a new one.
Hmmmmmm. Interesting.
So I asked the head car-place person why I was told I needed a new one when I didn’t. Oh, because their handy-dandy battery checker device said, “replace” on it and that was good enough for them. I am still puzzled about that one. Logical or not? Evidently the device was not working properly.
I also figure that when I explain to someone, the two kinds of funky noises the car is making — that when I pick it up, the car will be fixed. I do not expect to hear the same funky noise the next morning when starting the car. Kind of like a weak chicken squawking. Only happens when it is cold. But it appears that no one was listening to my explanation of what the car was doing. Many dollars later and the car was still squawking.
And one more thing, when I bring a car in with certain parts working, I expect that those same parts will still be working when I bring the car home. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask to be treated with a modicum of respect and not like some dumb blond that can be bamboozled into accepting incompetence?
Why tell me it will take two days to fix my car when it will actually take more than two weeks? Why tell me lies about what parts are available and which ones were shipped from Chicago and some of those were wrong and had to be overnighted, so “it is going to take more time, Lara.” (Deep breath.)
I dunno. More questions to which I do not have answers. One of these days I am going to save up all my money, look at a car, pay for it in one lump sum and if isn’t what I want, at the price I want, or the color I want, I am not buying it!
MECHANICAL TIP: If your “service engine soon” light comes on, check to make sure your gas cap is on tight. A leaky or loose one can cause that light to come on and you will be sold a $44 gas cap — after paying $100 for the diagnostic test first. Buy a cheap gas cap to see if that solves the problem and save yourself some $$.
I HATE dealing with cars. It’s such a hassle–the routine maintenance, the repairs that have to get done after you’ve had a car for a certain amount of time, dealing with mechanics, dealing with gas prices–my dream is to live in a city with reliable public transportation so I won’t have to deal with any of that anymore.