Service....Please?
Temp 113
On the instruction of my husband I took car in to the dealer where Uncle Chris works. I pulled into the place and walked in, not so busy for a Kia service department. I told the lovely lady at the counter I needed someone to look at my van. I briefly began to describe the issue when we were interrupted by the manager. He asked if I had an appointment and of course not. Sure doesn’t everyone drive 2500+ miles intending to have a dysfunctional van during vacation? I replied ‘no’ and repeated the part about driving 2500+ miles for a vacation. As I could see this was getting me no where I dropped Uncle Chris' name and voila instant service. I was treated so much better. Nice.
We sat and waited in the waiting room while the mechanic took a teat drive. He returned and had some follow-up questions for me. Basically in his opinion the problem most likely was not good. Since that sort of noise can indicate a number of problems he will need to take a thorough look at the van.
Italics are my thoughts and/or reactions
He asked: “When did you notice this problem? And has the noise changed? Anything else you noticed?”
Me: “Yesterday afternoon, the noise has gotten louder since this morning. And the sensation of the tire seeming to not be on, like it’s jiggling in place.” Man, this van totally freaked me out after lunch yesterday. I noticed it was wobbly when I took over driving in New Mexico, I am so surprised that we were able to get it here.
Him: “How long did you drive it likes this?”
Me: “Not long.” Depends on how long is long. About 500 miles or so.
Him: “I hope not too far because if this is what I think it may be I am surprised you were able to drive it here safely.”
Me: “Oh, really. Maybe it’s just luck.” No sir I wouldn’t intentionally drive a problematic car 500+ miles to the final destination endangering the lives of my family just because getting here is way more important than safety.
Him: “Do you plan to be around a while? Will you be able to leave the car here for a few days? It may not take more than a day but just in case.”
Me: “It should not be a problem; we plan to be here all week.” Even if we hadn’t planned on a week what the heck else are we going to do? Tempt fate for 100th time?
Him: “Ok, that’s it. We’ll give you a call when it’s all done.”
Me: “Thanks.” Whew.
I was going to wait for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel but then realized how dumb that would be. Since K-man still had one more day of a conference left and I would need a way to get around town. The bus system is not so good here.
I decided to get a rental. I waited at the tiny super hot place. The woman was a bit testy, me too. I was, at first, bitchy but then realized it’s too damn hot to get pissy with this woman. I relaxed a bit and that helped. Doing so got me a better car. We were going to get this crappy Dodge Neon thing. Then she “located” another car, all ready to go, cleaned and cooled off. We got the Chrysler Pacifica in silver. Nice. I feel so trendy.
By the time this was all sorted out it was time to get Daddy. Within minutes the girls were asleep; tired from a wacky day. We returned to the hotel at 6pm. There we called Uncle Chris. The plan was to have supper at Uncle Chris and Aunt Michelle's house. We would need to pick him up at the dealer and drive on over to his house, about a 25-30 minute drive. Looks like a late supper for us.
On the instruction of my husband I took car in to the dealer where Uncle Chris works. I pulled into the place and walked in, not so busy for a Kia service department. I told the lovely lady at the counter I needed someone to look at my van. I briefly began to describe the issue when we were interrupted by the manager. He asked if I had an appointment and of course not. Sure doesn’t everyone drive 2500+ miles intending to have a dysfunctional van during vacation? I replied ‘no’ and repeated the part about driving 2500+ miles for a vacation. As I could see this was getting me no where I dropped Uncle Chris' name and voila instant service. I was treated so much better. Nice.
We sat and waited in the waiting room while the mechanic took a teat drive. He returned and had some follow-up questions for me. Basically in his opinion the problem most likely was not good. Since that sort of noise can indicate a number of problems he will need to take a thorough look at the van.
Italics are my thoughts and/or reactions
He asked: “When did you notice this problem? And has the noise changed? Anything else you noticed?”
Me: “Yesterday afternoon, the noise has gotten louder since this morning. And the sensation of the tire seeming to not be on, like it’s jiggling in place.” Man, this van totally freaked me out after lunch yesterday. I noticed it was wobbly when I took over driving in New Mexico, I am so surprised that we were able to get it here.
Him: “How long did you drive it likes this?”
Me: “Not long.” Depends on how long is long. About 500 miles or so.
Him: “I hope not too far because if this is what I think it may be I am surprised you were able to drive it here safely.”
Me: “Oh, really. Maybe it’s just luck.” No sir I wouldn’t intentionally drive a problematic car 500+ miles to the final destination endangering the lives of my family just because getting here is way more important than safety.
Him: “Do you plan to be around a while? Will you be able to leave the car here for a few days? It may not take more than a day but just in case.”
Me: “It should not be a problem; we plan to be here all week.” Even if we hadn’t planned on a week what the heck else are we going to do? Tempt fate for 100th time?
Him: “Ok, that’s it. We’ll give you a call when it’s all done.”
Me: “Thanks.” Whew.
I was going to wait for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel but then realized how dumb that would be. Since K-man still had one more day of a conference left and I would need a way to get around town. The bus system is not so good here.
I decided to get a rental. I waited at the tiny super hot place. The woman was a bit testy, me too. I was, at first, bitchy but then realized it’s too damn hot to get pissy with this woman. I relaxed a bit and that helped. Doing so got me a better car. We were going to get this crappy Dodge Neon thing. Then she “located” another car, all ready to go, cleaned and cooled off. We got the Chrysler Pacifica in silver. Nice. I feel so trendy.
By the time this was all sorted out it was time to get Daddy. Within minutes the girls were asleep; tired from a wacky day. We returned to the hotel at 6pm. There we called Uncle Chris. The plan was to have supper at Uncle Chris and Aunt Michelle's house. We would need to pick him up at the dealer and drive on over to his house, about a 25-30 minute drive. Looks like a late supper for us.
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