stuck in park

Back in late July it was unbearably hot here in the Bay Area. I was driving in the Palo Alto hills when my car stopped running. (I was trying to find a shady place to park and have lunch while I waited between sessions with my therapists) No weird noises, it just plain stopped running. Luckily, I wasn’t going that fast so I just coasted to a pull-over place. I wasn’t super-shocked since it’s been running a bit rough lately and it was 104 degrees out which is tough on any car.

My husband called the dealership I used to go to when we lived down there and we had it towed there. I only had to wait 1 hour in the blistering heat. (Me, bitter? No… I didn’t need that $140.00) I was so discombobulated I even chatted with the tow truck driver on the way to the dealership. Which was a good thing because he warned me: “Watch out for Benny. He tends to lie. Especially to women.” So when we pulled in and one of the service reps opened the door for me, I said: “And you are…?” Benny.

He and the tow truck guy thought the timing belt broke (sounds reasonable) but they said they’d get back to me tomorrow and then I’ll know more. He said it would cost $500 just to diagnose. When I questioned this, he said it would cost $187. He said he never had loaner cars. When I asked if he could get back to me tomorrow morning, Benny sniffed and started to complain. I didn’t have an appointment and he was doing me a big favor. I didn’t want him to think he could intimidate me so I just looked at him and said: "There's no harm in asking, right?"

The tow truck guy gave me a ride to the Cal Train station. It took me 2 hours to get home on the bay area’s “public transportation system.” I had to transfer to BART at SFO, transfer again in San Francisco. Did I mention it was 104 degrees and BART doesn’t have a single soda machine in any of their stations?

The next day, Benny, the slime-ball service rep, called and told me my timing belt was broken and I needed to authorize $1000 of charges to tear the engine down to check if the valve or pistons were damaged. I thought this sounded fishy so I called the VW dealership in Oakland. They said that everything would be covered by my drive train warranty. I called Benny back and suddenly he was all sweetness and light. I told him not to work on the car; that I didn't trust him, that I didn't appreciate his attitude and told him that he had a bad reputation. Finally, Benny said he'd have car towed to another dealer FOR FREE. I was dizzy with power.

Turns out, my was car fucked. The valve shafts are bent so the whole engine needs to be rebuilt. I spent two hours gathering up my service records. My worry was that VW would decide I hadn’t taken good enough care of the car and claim I’d voided the warranty. I didn’t have $8000.00 just lying around.

Rebuilding the engine took A MONTH. I tried to be patient - It's not a big deal for us to be down a car right now since my husband works so close to home. Last week, I finally went to pick it up. When I got there, I noticed that one of the little turn-signal lights on the passenger side had been broken off. It was fine when I dropped it off, so it must have happened when it was there. Of course, they didn't have the part in stock.
"But it'll only take 5 minutes to replace!" said the service rep.
"Yeah, 5 minutes for you, but an hour for me to drive down here and drive back!" I said. I sighed dramatically and drove off. At least I'll have a new engine in a 6 year-old car, I thought.

And now it’s broken again.

Yesterday, as I was getting on the Dunbarton Bridge, all these dashboard lights came on: check engine, anti-slip, and the mysterious “EPC” light. The car was still running, but when I stepped on the gas it barely responded. I swore. A LOT. When I finally got across the bridge, I stopped the car and called the dealership. Bring it in, they said. When I got to the dealership I looked at the service rep and said: “I think it missed you.”

When my husband finishes his post-doctoral fellowship next year, we’re thinking of getting an all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive wagon - possibly a Subaru or Toyota - something that can handle the mountains when we go skiing. No more German engineering lovingly assembled in Mexico. Any suggestions?