Retirement is a week filled with Saturdays and Sundays interrupted only occasionally by a holiday.

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Tuesday, June 5, 2007

No Ma’am…There’s Nothing Wrong

Yesterday as planned, I took my car to the dealership at 7AM to have them re-check the work they’d done 10 days before. If you need a re-cap, just scroll on down to my previous post. David (my favorite Service person) was there and I explained the problem…my gas mileage was worse (21.7 mpg) instead of better than my normal 25+ mpg. He told me to have a seat in the waiting room and they’d check it out.

Okay…here’s my gripe. I was there NOT for a regular service but to have them fix a problem THEY created. In addition, I’d called and made an appointment for Monday so they knew I was coming. So why, at 9AM, was I STILL sitting in the waiting room? How long does it take to check out my little problem? Shouldn’t my car have been the first one taken to one of the service techs? I strolled on out to the Service area and tracked down David to “inquire” (read that as “complain”). He immediately apologized and went off to talk to the dispatcher and I went back to the waiting room.

An hour later (yes, 10AM), I again went over to the Service area in hot pursuit of David. I found him at his desk on the walkie-talkie. He told me they were just finishing my car and the report was that they couldn’t find any problem with it. Excuse me...3 hours later and they couldn't find anything wrong??? He did say they looked to see if maybe they’d left something loose (according to him, they hadn’t) which might explain the lousy gas consumption and they re-set the computer in hopes that would take care of the problem. So now I’m supposed to continue driving my car, check the gas mileage when I fill up, and then return if it’s still a problem. [sigh…]

Here’s my thinking…they probably did find something wrong…either something loose or something (like the timing) not set properly and were embarrassed to admit they’d made a mistake. I drove several miles yesterday and the gas gauge does look like it’s moving toward “Empty” at a much slower rate so I’m hoping this will be the last time I write about it. Keep your fingers crossed.

15 comments:

Susie said...

Our gas gauge moves toward empty at quite a rapid rate. It has developed an addiction to the gas station.
Seems it can't wait to go back..again and again!!!
Perhaps yours has similar issues??
;)

Unknown said...

Oh, I would love to get 21 mpg. On my last trip to Austin, I was thrilled with 18 and that was with a strong wind behind me!

thailandchani said...

That sounds most likely.. definitely!

You have a beautiful blog here, especially the title picture.

I'll be back.. many times. :)


Peace,

~Chani

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

oh i just hate those long waits! sarge always drags me with him when he takes his "mistress" in for her checkups. then he cheats on her by looking at new cars while he waits! ha ha

smiles, bee

Renee Nefe said...

Nothing I HATE more than a mechanic right out lying to me. You can be sure that I won't return to your place if I even think that you're lying to me...and guess what mechanic...I'm a mechanic's daughter, so I COULD be fixing this thing myself if I didn't have a stubborn husband who thinks that you deserve to earn money off of me.

I agree with you in your suspicion that the mechanic messed up. Yeah, check your gas milage to be sure. And good luck.

Special K ~Toni said...

I would be ticked off too!

Patti said...

I guess David has dropped a few notches on your favorite people list

Michele said...

Okee dokee... fingers and toes are crossed!

jaded said...

I hope their three hour search will mysteriously solve your gas problem. I hate waiting for people to fix things that should have been installed properly the first time.

Carole Burant said...

I've had my fair share of waiting in the waiting room at the car dealership and it's ridiculous how long they can make you wait! I so hate having to bring my car in because it's almost guaranteed something else is not going to work right!! xox

Ralph said...

21.7 MPG? I'm happy if I get 17 in my van, so all is not lost! Don't you just love thse intermittent gremlins (not the car, owned one of those once:>)

Midlife Mom said...

I HATE waiting in those service department waiting rooms with the three year old magazines and CNN blaring in the background! Now I take my Ipod and my own magazines with me!

Anonymous said...

Nice blog! Love the header ( the picture). Anyways, its really annoying to wait for hours at the service department. I've also experienced it when I brought my car. After checking all my mazda 626 parts - it turned out have some dirty connections and have to clear it. It is really good to choose where to bring your car. This is to ensure that the car is in good hands. Anyways, I hope you'll have no problems with your car. Its such a headache having car trouble.

rosemary said...

I vote for a sly fix-it too....they will never admit they goofed, never. I drive a Vibe and get great mileage...don't particularly like the car but good mileage.

Lynn said...

Don't you wish you had a 'hidden camera' that recorded what they actually did to your car?