I Thought I'd Never See My Car Again.
Wednesday, July 5 7PMish
I worked late and headed out to the nearly empty parking lot. I started my car, put it in gear and immediately noticed that it just wasn't right. The engine was hesitating and it felt like it was going to stall. I though, "Oh no, not this again!" But, it's only been 5,000 miles since my last oil change...well within the suggested range.
Don King was leaving and saw me popping open the hood. He came over and we checked the oil. It was full and nice and clean looking. He listened to the engine and said he thought it sounded fine. Actually, what he said was, "It sounds all right for a Hyundai."
I then proceeded to lecture him on the merits of my car. It's a really good car - Consumer Reports gave it the best of the year when I bought it. My Mercedes driving friends have actually said they thought it was a pretty smooth ride and one of them has even bought one. I get a little touchy when people knock it. Just ask Grandpa.
After sitting in the car and being able to feel the sputtering/hesitation stuff, he thought it just needed a little tune up and I'd be good to go. He told me I should have no trouble driving home.
Not entirely trusting it, I stayed off the freeway. It idled rought at the stop lights but seemed to drive fine. Until, I got one block from home when the Check Exhaust light came on and it didn't want to accelerate as well. It didn't actually say "Check Exhaust", it was a little engine shaped outline.
I made it home and checked the owner's manual for the light's specific message. It said there was a problem with the exhaust and that it needed to go to the dealer. It didn't say not to drive it so I decided to take it in on my way to work on Thursday.
I called Steven to see if he would follow me into the dealer then take me to work but he had to be at work at 6 AM. I then called Sugar Daddy who said he would meet me at the dealer at 8 and take me to work. He was not into the following me in thing. I was paranoid it would die on the road and I'd be sitting there are girlie and helpless but he assured me he'd only be a few minutes away. After telling him he damn well better answer his cell phone (something he rarely does) I agreed to the plan.
Thursday, July 6 7:30 AM
I got into my car and did a little pleading. "Please start, please start." It did so I headed to the dealer. Now the pleading was, "Please don't die, please don't die." I made it in without incident.
The Service Guy came out to greet me. I told him that my Check Exhaust light had come on the night before. He looked perplexed and told me he'd never seen that before and asked me to show it to him. Apparently, he was new. When he saw it, he said it was the Check Engine light. What do I know? I just read the manual.
I started to tell him that I might as well get an oil change and my tires rotated (because Grandpa had told me to do that...back in April) and then I mentioned that I hadn't done the 30,000 mile service so I wanted them to do that. He looked flabbergasted...maybe because the car is at 41,000 miles. But for me, that's pretty good.
He wrote it all up and the 30,000 service was $479 and one of the shop guys came over and assured us that they could do it that day. You get a free loaner car with that (whoopee) but I declined since Sugar Daddy was picking me up and I could get a ride back later with someone from work.
Thursday, July 6 10:00 AM
Service Guy called me and said three of my tires were really worn and that I should replace them. My options were to match the one Michelin (that was put on when one of my tires couldn't be fixed after rolling over a really big nail) which would cost $529 or I could get four Kumos for $400. I asked him what the warranty difference was and he had to call me back.
In the meantime, I looked the tires up on Discount Tire's website. They had the Michelin for close to the same price and the Kumos for $70 each.
Service Guy called me back with the warranty info and now offered to put four new Michelins on for $679. I decided to go with the Kumos and be done with it.
Still no word on the fix to the original problem.
Thursday, July 6 11AMish
Service Guy calls and says my idle problem is the coil module. It's under warranty but they have to order the part. He expected it to be in the next day. I had Sugar Daddy drop me off at my parents' after lunch and I got the Mom Renta-van for the night. This is after I got a big lecture from Sugar Daddy about letting the dealership put tires on when I could have saved money by going to Discount. My logic was that I can't/won't make the time to get my oil changed so the chance of making the time to get new tires was pretty much nil. He didn't buy it but when I said there was an alignment as part of the 30,000 service and it would be better to have the tires on he stopped with the lecture.
Friday, July 7 3PM
Not getting a call all day from Service Guy, I called him. First, he can't find my paperwork and can't remember anything on my car. Second, he tells me the part didn't come in and the car won't be done that day. He then says, "So, keep that loaner." and tries to hang up. I catch him in time to say, "Uh, I don't have a loaner, remember?"
He tells me that he has a loaner coming back in that afternoon at 4:30 and asks me to give him a bit to check it in before I come pick it up. I say, "So, if I come a little after 5, is that good?" I hear a big sigh then he starts some sob story about how it's the busiest time of the day so I ask if 6 would be better. I'm like, dude, you tell me what works since it seems to be a big deal to you. He finally tells me to come in around 5 and not to worry, "They'll take care of me."
I drove over to pick up Shorty so he can take the van home after dropping me off at the dealer. As we're checking over the loaner, I ask Service Guy if my car will be fixed the next day. He comes back with a surprised, "Oh no, we don't get deliveries on Saturday." We then just stare at each other. I don't know what he was thinking but I was thinking that I was going to give these people close to $1,000 and the best service I can get is from this yahoo.
I then asked, "So, Monday?" He said, "Monday or Tuesday. I can check on it and give you call. Or, you could call me." Again, I'm giving you $1,000, you better be calling me. I said, "Why don't you call me?" Of course, I didn't expect him to call.
My loaner turned out to be a Hyundai Tucson which disappointed Shorty and T because they both thought it would be hilarious if I got a Mini-Van. The Tucson actually drove nice but it had a chintzy interior that I didn't like at all.
Sunday, July 9 6PMish
We're walking out of the Parrot Grande (it's a club thing) meeting when Pirate Rick says, "Where's your car?" I knew what he was thinking because he made a comment about how I need to change the oil. I told him it was a coil module and that he could read the whole story in the blog. Julie will end up reading parts of it to him, anyways.
Monday, July 10 All Day
No call from Service Guy. I decided he would probably just say something dumb if I called so I didn't.
Tuesday, July 11 3PMish
Still no call from Service Guy. I decided to see how long it would take before he called me.
Wednesday, July 12 11:AM
I couldn't take it anymore. T and I were meeting a friend for lunch and I thought that perhaps a miracle had happened and my car was done and that we could pick it up. Tried to get through to Service Guy twice but got no answer.
Wednesday, July 12 3PM
Tried to get Service Guy again, twice. Finally got to his voice mail and he called me back. He then tells me, "No, it's not ready." I say, "What, are they sending it from Korea?" He says (all surprised), "No, I told you it would take three to five days."
Now, I am furious. I said, "No, you didn't tell me that. You told me on Friday that it would be Monday or Tuesday and that you would call me." He comes back with, "I'm sorry if I told you that but it won't be until Thursday or Friday." IF he told me that!?!? Like I dreamt it up. Oy vey. This guy was asking for me to punch him in the head.
Thursday, July 13 1PM
Service guy actually called me! And, he said my car was done! I asked If I just needed to go to the Cashier and he said I could but, if I had any questions to come find him. I'm not sure just when he decided to be helpful...
Thursday, July 13, 2:40PM
I decided I better get over there before the end of the day in case something wasn't done. I tried my best to avoid Service Guy but he had to check the loaner in. I just couldn't have had a better friend than he! He was all chatty and friendly and I was all polite smile and trying to get the hell out of there. Surprisingly, my car is running fine and they did all of the scheduled work. I even have my one Michelin tire wrapped in plastic in my back seat. Like I'll ever do anything with that other than put it in my storage unit.
So, 8 days and $922 later, I have my car back.
I love my car. I really missed it.
And, I have a plan to be better to it. T takes his car in for oil changes at a place right by work. I'm going to take mine in at the same time so it will seem like a social outing.
I worked late and headed out to the nearly empty parking lot. I started my car, put it in gear and immediately noticed that it just wasn't right. The engine was hesitating and it felt like it was going to stall. I though, "Oh no, not this again!" But, it's only been 5,000 miles since my last oil change...well within the suggested range.
Don King was leaving and saw me popping open the hood. He came over and we checked the oil. It was full and nice and clean looking. He listened to the engine and said he thought it sounded fine. Actually, what he said was, "It sounds all right for a Hyundai."
I then proceeded to lecture him on the merits of my car. It's a really good car - Consumer Reports gave it the best of the year when I bought it. My Mercedes driving friends have actually said they thought it was a pretty smooth ride and one of them has even bought one. I get a little touchy when people knock it. Just ask Grandpa.
After sitting in the car and being able to feel the sputtering/hesitation stuff, he thought it just needed a little tune up and I'd be good to go. He told me I should have no trouble driving home.
Not entirely trusting it, I stayed off the freeway. It idled rought at the stop lights but seemed to drive fine. Until, I got one block from home when the Check Exhaust light came on and it didn't want to accelerate as well. It didn't actually say "Check Exhaust", it was a little engine shaped outline.
I made it home and checked the owner's manual for the light's specific message. It said there was a problem with the exhaust and that it needed to go to the dealer. It didn't say not to drive it so I decided to take it in on my way to work on Thursday.
I called Steven to see if he would follow me into the dealer then take me to work but he had to be at work at 6 AM. I then called Sugar Daddy who said he would meet me at the dealer at 8 and take me to work. He was not into the following me in thing. I was paranoid it would die on the road and I'd be sitting there are girlie and helpless but he assured me he'd only be a few minutes away. After telling him he damn well better answer his cell phone (something he rarely does) I agreed to the plan.
Thursday, July 6 7:30 AM
I got into my car and did a little pleading. "Please start, please start." It did so I headed to the dealer. Now the pleading was, "Please don't die, please don't die." I made it in without incident.
The Service Guy came out to greet me. I told him that my Check Exhaust light had come on the night before. He looked perplexed and told me he'd never seen that before and asked me to show it to him. Apparently, he was new. When he saw it, he said it was the Check Engine light. What do I know? I just read the manual.
I started to tell him that I might as well get an oil change and my tires rotated (because Grandpa had told me to do that...back in April) and then I mentioned that I hadn't done the 30,000 mile service so I wanted them to do that. He looked flabbergasted...maybe because the car is at 41,000 miles. But for me, that's pretty good.
He wrote it all up and the 30,000 service was $479 and one of the shop guys came over and assured us that they could do it that day. You get a free loaner car with that (whoopee) but I declined since Sugar Daddy was picking me up and I could get a ride back later with someone from work.
Thursday, July 6 10:00 AM
Service Guy called me and said three of my tires were really worn and that I should replace them. My options were to match the one Michelin (that was put on when one of my tires couldn't be fixed after rolling over a really big nail) which would cost $529 or I could get four Kumos for $400. I asked him what the warranty difference was and he had to call me back.
In the meantime, I looked the tires up on Discount Tire's website. They had the Michelin for close to the same price and the Kumos for $70 each.
Service Guy called me back with the warranty info and now offered to put four new Michelins on for $679. I decided to go with the Kumos and be done with it.
Still no word on the fix to the original problem.
Thursday, July 6 11AMish
Service Guy calls and says my idle problem is the coil module. It's under warranty but they have to order the part. He expected it to be in the next day. I had Sugar Daddy drop me off at my parents' after lunch and I got the Mom Renta-van for the night. This is after I got a big lecture from Sugar Daddy about letting the dealership put tires on when I could have saved money by going to Discount. My logic was that I can't/won't make the time to get my oil changed so the chance of making the time to get new tires was pretty much nil. He didn't buy it but when I said there was an alignment as part of the 30,000 service and it would be better to have the tires on he stopped with the lecture.
Friday, July 7 3PM
Not getting a call all day from Service Guy, I called him. First, he can't find my paperwork and can't remember anything on my car. Second, he tells me the part didn't come in and the car won't be done that day. He then says, "So, keep that loaner." and tries to hang up. I catch him in time to say, "Uh, I don't have a loaner, remember?"
He tells me that he has a loaner coming back in that afternoon at 4:30 and asks me to give him a bit to check it in before I come pick it up. I say, "So, if I come a little after 5, is that good?" I hear a big sigh then he starts some sob story about how it's the busiest time of the day so I ask if 6 would be better. I'm like, dude, you tell me what works since it seems to be a big deal to you. He finally tells me to come in around 5 and not to worry, "They'll take care of me."
I drove over to pick up Shorty so he can take the van home after dropping me off at the dealer. As we're checking over the loaner, I ask Service Guy if my car will be fixed the next day. He comes back with a surprised, "Oh no, we don't get deliveries on Saturday." We then just stare at each other. I don't know what he was thinking but I was thinking that I was going to give these people close to $1,000 and the best service I can get is from this yahoo.
I then asked, "So, Monday?" He said, "Monday or Tuesday. I can check on it and give you call. Or, you could call me." Again, I'm giving you $1,000, you better be calling me. I said, "Why don't you call me?" Of course, I didn't expect him to call.
My loaner turned out to be a Hyundai Tucson which disappointed Shorty and T because they both thought it would be hilarious if I got a Mini-Van. The Tucson actually drove nice but it had a chintzy interior that I didn't like at all.
Sunday, July 9 6PMish
We're walking out of the Parrot Grande (it's a club thing) meeting when Pirate Rick says, "Where's your car?" I knew what he was thinking because he made a comment about how I need to change the oil. I told him it was a coil module and that he could read the whole story in the blog. Julie will end up reading parts of it to him, anyways.
Monday, July 10 All Day
No call from Service Guy. I decided he would probably just say something dumb if I called so I didn't.
Tuesday, July 11 3PMish
Still no call from Service Guy. I decided to see how long it would take before he called me.
Wednesday, July 12 11:AM
I couldn't take it anymore. T and I were meeting a friend for lunch and I thought that perhaps a miracle had happened and my car was done and that we could pick it up. Tried to get through to Service Guy twice but got no answer.
Wednesday, July 12 3PM
Tried to get Service Guy again, twice. Finally got to his voice mail and he called me back. He then tells me, "No, it's not ready." I say, "What, are they sending it from Korea?" He says (all surprised), "No, I told you it would take three to five days."
Now, I am furious. I said, "No, you didn't tell me that. You told me on Friday that it would be Monday or Tuesday and that you would call me." He comes back with, "I'm sorry if I told you that but it won't be until Thursday or Friday." IF he told me that!?!? Like I dreamt it up. Oy vey. This guy was asking for me to punch him in the head.
Thursday, July 13 1PM
Service guy actually called me! And, he said my car was done! I asked If I just needed to go to the Cashier and he said I could but, if I had any questions to come find him. I'm not sure just when he decided to be helpful...
Thursday, July 13, 2:40PM
I decided I better get over there before the end of the day in case something wasn't done. I tried my best to avoid Service Guy but he had to check the loaner in. I just couldn't have had a better friend than he! He was all chatty and friendly and I was all polite smile and trying to get the hell out of there. Surprisingly, my car is running fine and they did all of the scheduled work. I even have my one Michelin tire wrapped in plastic in my back seat. Like I'll ever do anything with that other than put it in my storage unit.
So, 8 days and $922 later, I have my car back.
I love my car. I really missed it.
And, I have a plan to be better to it. T takes his car in for oil changes at a place right by work. I'm going to take mine in at the same time so it will seem like a social outing.
