They say there’s a sucker born every minute and right now that would be me. It has to do with our cars and getting them serviced. We used to flip our vehicles every time they got minutely close to 100,000 miles — we were afraid they would conk out suddenly somewhere sometime, so having low mileage cars seemed to be the right strategy for a young family.
But then reality hit in the form of tuition and other life expenses and now, my minivan (yes, I am still driving that minivan) is approaching 160,000 miles (woohoo!) and Bill’s SUV is approaching 126,000. Our cars and we are growing old together.
The downside of having high mileage cars is that they can require a lot of repairs. To keep that from happening, we’ve always kept up with preventive maintenance, hedging our bets against getting stuck in a faraway and unfamiliar place.
However, despite our good intentions, that’s exactly what happened just a couple of weeks ago. Molly was home for the weekend, so the four of us were in south Jersey for a lacrosse tournament. Many hard-fought games later, and in a hot and dusty parking lot, the car refused to start. The rest of our team had cleared out very quickly, so it’s a lucky thing I had the coach’s phone number on speed dial (a shout out here to Larry Birch, Lacrosse Coach Supreme and Man Who Carries Jumper Cables in Car). He drove back to rescue us, but here’s what happened next: the battery was so dead, there was not one drop of juice for the jump to work. That battery looked so corroded, even I could have discerned that it was on its last legs. AAA was summoned, the battery replaced on the spot (a shout out here to AAA — some of the best money you’ll ever spend) and about an hour later, we were on our way.
The best thing about this adventure? We had just had the car in for its 125,000 mile service. All it had really needed was an oil change, but being diligent owners, we told our service agent to give it a thorough check so we would be safe and not get stuck somewhere. Those were my very words. Well, they did check it out all right, to the tune of $2,500 for a car that went in with no problems — except, as it turned out, a very old battery that would die less than a month later. Of course, there were brakes that were about to go, Mrs. Brossman, and man, the tires were getting worn and two of them should really be replaced but yes indeed, they did have a very good deal on tires that day.
And hook, line, and sinker, they had me. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but the very same car had been in just 11 months before and had work done at just about the same cost. The really pathetic thing is that this is the station car, used to drive six minutes to the train station in the morning, six minutes back at night. We don’t pile miles on it. In other words, there was no good reason that we should have spent $5,000 on preventive work — not even repairs — within less than a year.
I didn’t know this then, but I know this now: service people at dealerships are like salesmen—most are paid on commission, so the more work you have done, the more money they put in their own pockets. So when they see someone like me coming — a female who evidently knows nothing about cars but is concerned with everything about safety — they have me pegged for the sucker that I have been — but have vowed to be no longer.
To add insult to injury, my service representative, after hearing our tale of woe, told me I should really bring the car back to be checked out, that I may have been sold a bill of goods by the people who replaced the battery, and maybe it wasn’t just the battery that was the problem but the entire system around it.
To which I responded, really, are you kidding me? First, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was definitely the battery that was the issue. And then you had the car for days (while a part was ordered), charged me $2,500, and your mechanics missed what you say could be a systemic battery failure? I think not.
Here’s what I’ve learned: I am NOT going back to that dealership ever again. They’ve lost a great customer by acting in a way that I believe is less than honest. I believe they have sold me lots of unnecessary services over the years, and I am mad at myself for not being a more educated consumer. I’m not going to name the dealership or the service agent here because I know he has a family and he has to make a living too.
Here’s what’s going to change: I’m going to pull out my owner’s manual and read it thoroughly. I’m going to learn basic auto mechanics. I will never be an auto mechanic in this lifetime—my brain simply doesn’t work that way. But I can learn enough to know what I don’t know and to know when I am being taken.
The problem with getting your car serviced is that you have to know cars or trust your mechanic. It’s not like walking into a store, seeing a price tag, and knowing what you should pay. For years now, I’ve had the uncomfortable feeling that I’ve been suckered, but this experience has confirmed it. Listening to my gut would have saved me lots of time and money, not to mention the hassle of getting stuck far from home despite my best intentions and a high credit card bill.
