The "Loaner" Car

Hi everybody!

Sorry I haven't been around in a week or so; I've been preoccupied with some car trouble. Unlike the LAST time I had car trouble (a broken alternator belt, and a broken fan belt), this time it's a bit more serious.

To encapsulate: the car died on Saturday afternoon (yes, July 23). I had it towed to my regular mechanic, but they were so busy that they couldn't get to it until Sunday morning. They phoned me at about 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon, and announced that they had NO IDEA what was wrong with the car. I would have to take the car to a Volvo dealership, where they have diagnostic tools that are more "specific" to the make/model of my car. I had the car towed to the local Volvo dealership, but since it was Sunday, they weren't there. So I waited until first-thing Monday morning to call them, and let them know what the trouble was.

The long-and-short of it: it required a new Fuel Sending Unit, as well as a new Fuel Pump. I was told on Monday that it would take about a week to get the parts in, but when I threw a tantrum, they said they could "overnight" the parts. Then yesterday (Wednesday), the Service Consultant I spoke to told me "it'll be ready tomorrow afternoon".

So today, I went out to the dealership (by bus). I was then told that a particular part hadn't yet arrived, but ought to be there by tomorrow morning (and the car ought to be ready by tomorrow afternoon). This, naturally, made me a bit upset; the person I'd spoken to the day before told me it would be ready! Of course, the counterperson I was speaking to today was not the same guy I spoke to yesterday.

I wouldn't say that I threw a hissy-fit, exactly, but I did let them know that I was upset, AND that I'd told my co-workers that I would be back to work. Shawn, the customer-service guy, said, "just a second, sir...let me make a phone call". He arranged (through a national car-rental company, with whom they often do business) to provide me with a rental car, at no charge to me, for a day. "We have a car for you, sir," he said, "it'll be here in about ten minutes".

About thirty minutes later, an attractive young woman named Elizabeth arrived, driving a white 2005 Mazda 3. At first, I thought she was bringing her car in for service or something, but she was actually from the rental company. Shawn called me over (by this time I was sitting in their lobby, reading Ladies' Home Journal), and said, "sir, your car's here".

On the way back to the car-rental office, Elizabeth noticed a small crack in the windshield of the Mazda. "Uh-oh," she said, "looks like we're going to have to find you a different car". I guess they can't rent it to you if there's a crack in the windshield.

About forty-five minutes later, Elizabeth had located another available car (apparently, they were pretty busy). We filled-out the paperwork, and I drove away in my (borrowed) 2005 Dodge Stratus. Nice car, really; it's kind of dark-grey (the official color is "magnesium"), 4-doors, auto, power-everything, and AIR CONDITIONING. Whoo, yeah! Also, it's got a very cool AM/FM/CD sound system, which I finally figured out how to operate. In fact, tomorrow morning (before work) I'm going to drive to the dealership, and get a few of my CD's out of my Volvo! I figure, why not enjoy it?

Hopefully, the Brick will be all fixed & ready to go tomorrow (I only get one free day on the rental; I can keep it longer, if necessary, but I'll have to pay twenty-five bucks per day).

As always, I'll keep everyone posted. Wish me luck!