Car Repair NIGHTMARE

This is probably not interesting to anyone at all, but I had to write it to VENT. I have been so irritated for the past few days.

It all started Sunday night. We finished dinner early and were home before dark and I was talking about being bored (ha ha). Finally about 9:00 p.m., I decided to change clothes and watch Real Housewives of New Jersey - The Reunion Show. The phone rang. It was Jordan and she was at Walgreens with a dead car. We drove to Ft. Worth to see if we could jump the battery. We bought a new battery at Sears last summer.

The car was DEAD. We called a wrecker and decided to tow it to Sears. We took Jordan home and waited for the wrecker. We got home about 11:30. Well, I wasn't bored anymore. On Mondays, Jordan has to be in Aledo for work at 6:30 a.m., so Pops got up at 5:00, picked Jordan up, drover her to Aledo, waited for 3 hours for her to finish, and dropped her off at her Ft. Worth office. My job was to take care of her car at Sears.

They called me at 8:15 and said they would look it and call us back. Finally at 1:00, they had not called back, so I called them. It was a bad battery and it was ready. Great. Pops had a dentist appointment at 2, but I thought we could get it to Ft. Worth and he could make it back on time.

I got in Jordan's car and when I backed up, I knew we were in trouble. It sounded like it was going to blow up and would hardly move. Unfortunately, Pops had already taken off and my cell phone was in his car. I made it a couple of exits and found a pay phone. I called him and told him to turn around, and we headed to our regular mechanic, RC Automotive in Hurst. We have used Robert for many years and highly recommend him. Very honest and great service.

Robert finished up with what he thought was wrong, called us to come get it, but when he backed it out, it was not good, so he called back and told us not to come. Eventually, he figured out what it needed and fixed it. Janelle and I had to go pick it up and drive it to Ft. Worth. Jordan's car - done.

Now for my car. Took it to the dealership for routine maintenance and a warranty issue. They always give you a loan car. Usually a nice one - but I got the crap car. I go to pick it up and they did not fix a missing piece on my wheel or even check into it. What they did do was rotate the tires and forget to balance them. On the way home, the car was shaking all over the place.

Tuesday, I go to Discount Tires to have them balanced. Not only were they out of balance bad, one of the tires had a nail in it. It is possible that the nail got in my tire on the way home from the dealership, but highly unlikely.

Since Discount is a dealer for my wheels, I was going to get them to check on ordering a replacement center cap. They couldn't locate one, so I decided to go to the dealership that I bought them from. I called ahead to make sure the Vogue Tyre guy would be in. He called me back and said he would.

Get to the dealership at 1:45. He is no where in sight. Someone calls him and he says he will have his assistant help me. 30 minutes later, no one in sight. Finally, I try to get help from someone else. He takes me to another waiting area. Finally, after stopping to flirt with the girl at the desk for 5 minutes, he tells me they don't have it and will have to get it from California. The Vogue guy will call me when it is in. The Vogue guy doesn't even have my name or number, so how is he going to call me????

I give him my info and asked him to have the Vogue guy call me. I emailed the Vogue guy when I got home. STILL no return call or email.

The only thing I do know is that the tiny little plastic cap will be $50 - $60 whenever I can get someone to help me. I thought it would be maybe $5 at the most. RIDICULOUS!!!!