Cars, Lies, and Things that Honk in the Night

This morning, I’ll arrive at the Toyota dealer in Hot Springs just about the time they open the bays to allow broken cars seeking salvation to enter.  Mine will be one of them. As far as I know, it doesn’t need much in the way of salvation. Just a front end alignment and a once-over to ensure it’s safe to drive the beast. Oh, and confirmation of (and fixing, please) a torn plastic under-fender on the front right side of the car.

A recent “issue” with the under-fender, which had become detached from the car, causes horrible grinding sounds to flow from the front right wheel area. It was, ostensibly, fixed by a Little Rock Toyota dealer service department, but methinks they may have been a little quick to return the car to us, inasmuch as the fix was free. And there’s that noise.

I’ll have the dealership give the car a good going-over, too, to make sure nothing untoward is occurring without my knowledge or consent. They will, of course, want hundreds of millions of American dollars to fix what they find. The likelihood is strong that I will be either unwilling or unable (or both) to pay for what they recommend.  Hence, my subsequent search for a competent mechanic who does not see himself as someone with value equivalent to the salary of an NFL player.

While I’m there, I will look at a few new and used Toyotas. A RAV4. Perhaps a Camry or Avalon. Maybe something smaller. Our recent visit to the Ford dealer, wherein we test drove several cars, led us to look at Consumer Reports. That resulted in the removal of almost every car we test-drove from the list: Ford Escape; Ford Fusion; Hundai Tucson; Nissan Altima; Lincoln MKV.  Well, we had already removed them, but CU cemented the deal.

Interesting tidbit about the Ford dealership.  The nice saleswoman we initially dealt with said, late in the day, she had to leave to pick her daughter up after school.   She left a follow-up message over the weekend, which I returned today.  She apologized that she left before we had finished driving all the cars. “I had to leave because my mother was in the hospital.”  Uh-huh. Write your lies in your little notebook.  Better still, don’t lie.  It’s so much less stressful!

On to another issue. I’ve been watching PBS tonight. The program, an epic by Ken Burns about the Roosevelts, is beyond stunning. I love it!

Of course, like so much in the world today, I wonder whether my thoughts of strippers or men wondering about murder, belong. I’d have to say “Yes.

 

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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6 Responses to Cars, Lies, and Things that Honk in the Night

  1. jserolf says:

    Are you teasing me? For what? That the old girl is a drug addict? LOL! Gimme a break. That’s lost in translation, my friend, because THAT thought was intended as release from what was some pathetic story for / from the sales person for not attending the meeting. Who cares?

    I trust few, my friend.

    Yes. Love the Roosevelt series from Burns (2014) but the piece that most changed my attitude about Burns’ documentaries is “The Central Park Five (2013). That one is astounding.

  2. Juan, you have succeeded in making me feel like the lowest of low-lifes. Well, at least it’s a lesson. (“Bastard,” he says under his breath.)

  3. jserolf says:

    For all you know, the mother’s a drug-addict gone to emergency!

    I just wouldn’t want anything to interfere with getting the lowest interest I could get, I think.

  4. Holly Forrest says:

    Tempting though it is to believe the car peddler is chockful of mendacity, I might give her the benefit of the doubt. Grandma might usually be at home for daughter’s arrival from school, but her hospitalization put a new demand on working mama.

    The joys of the sandwich generation life….

    My initial thought was same as yours, though. Maybe the truth is her second job is as a stripper, so she had to go before her time on the pole came up. Remind me to tell you about the soda fountain server I met yesterday whose mum is a part time stripper. Unless she is really a lawyer and he was ashamed to admit that.

  5. You know my position on this matter, as you read my text message response, sir. And you are correct, of course. I hate it when that happens.

  6. L'avocat DuDiable says:

    Just to play devil’s advocate here, what if, on her way to pick up her daughter, she got the call that her mother was in the hospital? Wouldn’t that make her words more truthful and not a lie? Just a thought, sir… Just a thought… This has nothing to do with the possibility that you are an unfeeling cad… Not at all! 🙂

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