Another Car "Gouging" Tale

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I think I might've posted this before... but didn't want to hijack my own "gouging" thread, so if I haven't, enjoy.  If I have posted it before... oh well!  

 

 

The Rabbit Died

 

     I once loaned my then future missus my brand-new Ford Ranger pickup truck shortly after we started dating, when her VW Rabbit kept dying.  In those days she was commuting from Vacaville to Vallejo; me, from San Leandro to San Francisco. She had no practical public transportation available; I was only about a mile walk from the BART station, which would dump me off downstairs from my office at Van Ness and Market.

 

     Well... that VW’s engine would just stop running without warning.  Cruising down the road, it would just shut off.  If she was lucky, she could pull to the side of the road suffering nothing more than a slight fright but without being run over. After allowing it to rest for a while the little baby-blue beast would usually start again, and might even run great for weeks... and then just stop.

 

     She'd had it to the dealership multiple times for correction. They swapped out the fuse block as a recall item, and replaced a variety of other things, including fuel pump relay, fuel pump, ignition parts... you name it. And other than the recall item they always charged her a “dealership shop rate” plus parts.

 

     One pleasant autumn weekend when I was in Vacaville for a visit, I inquired about the car.  It was running, but a tiny bit ragged.  Being a typical guy with a mechanical bent, I decided to be kind to the machine and give it a tune-up. Simple stuff.... and it nicely corrected the "ragged" issue and it ran fine.

 

     A few days later was Halloween. One of my favorite things in life is passing out candy to trick ‘r treaters, and I was really looking forward to spending the evening in Vacaville.  To this end, I'd left my truck at home and took BART to work that morning; plan was that after work I'd take BART to the Concord Station, meet her there, and drive to her house in Vacaville before the first goblins and ghosties knocked. 

 

     When I arrived in Concord, I climbed into the Rabbit’s passenger seat.  She started the car, drove about three feet – and it died. It would not re-start, and I was NOT happy.

 

     So, we took BART back to San Leandro, walked the mile to home, got in my Ranger and drove back to Concord. I took her key, and the car started. I would not let her drive it; rather, I asked her to follow me in my Ranger to the Volkswagen/Ford dealership in Fairfield. I knew it would be closed, of course, but I intended to drop it off at the service department.

 

     This was not to be; the cleaning crew had lowered the chain across the parking lot and parked one of their own cars across the driveway to secure the lot.  I climbed out of the “Bunny” to talk to the crew leader; he said they had to keep the lot closed and would not let me in. 

 

     I was not getting any happier. 

 

     After a moment of pondering, I told him that they had a choice - move that car and let me in, or plan on spending the night.  If they would not let me leave the car on the lot, I was gonna leave it in the driveway and block their own exit.

 

     They moved their car.

     I drove the vehicle right up to the service department, and parked it as close as I could to the office door.  Come morning, people were gonna have to squeeeeze past it to get in.

 

     Oh! VERY important! I forgot one part - a couple of days after I did the tune-up, it died again. She had it towed to the dealer... they called her that afternoon and said that it was ready.  When she got a ride to pick it up, they advised her that all it needed was a tune-up – “that’ll be $175, please.”

 

     But, she said, her boyfriend had just done a tune-up a couple days earlier! – “Oh! Well, your boyfriend used all the wrong parts.  Next time bring it to us!”

 

     Like hell! I knew Volkswagens verrrry well....

 

     We missed Halloween. The next morning I drove us back to the dealership in my Ranger.  We arrived about an hour or so after opening, and I was amused – no, make that delighted – to see people swearing and grumbling as they squeezed past the Rabbit, demanding to know who’d left it there.

 

     "Why, that would be ME!" I proudly proclaimed.

 

     The staff looked at me in shock - not only did I admit to it, but there I stood, dressed nicely in business attire and carrying a briefcase.

 

     Recovering from his surprise, the service manager scowled and asked, "Uh.... you left that Rabbit there?  Why?"

 

     Returning his scowl, I told him why.  I recited the list of times it had been in to their shop, work they'd done to correct the dying engine problem, work they'd charged her for - none of which had been effective. I told them that it had died once on the freeway when we were between a semi- and a Greyhound and nearly got us killed to death.  And I very succinctly expressed my displeasure with missing out on Halloween!

 

     Now that I was well and warmed up, I took a deep breath and launched into a narration of the "tune-up" fiasco.  With an attentive audience of all within earshot – mechanics, a secretary, customers, and others -  I crisply related the story; how the service manager (likely the very fellow I was addressing) had told her that I had "used all the wrong parts," and charged her for all new replacements as well as labor - which again did not correct the issue.

 

     Then, I said, "Look. I rebuilt my first VW in my third-floor fraternity house bedroom when I was nineteen years old, and I've rebuilt countless engines of all types since then. Now, about me having used all the 'wrong parts,' let me say this: I used all Bosch components.  Distributor cap.  Rotor.  Points.  Plugs.  Ignition wires...." and, from memory, recited the PART NUMBERS for each component.

 

     "So. Would YOU like to tell ME just WHICH of those parts was incorrect?”

 

     The dude had absolutely turned purple... 'specially since the dealership's general manager had been summoned early in my address and had witnessed it in almost its entirety.

 

     He paled.  After a couple of calming breaths, he said that he would personally take charge of the car; he even drive it home and keep it until it failed again, and would absolutely not return it until it was corrected and that there would be NO charge.

 

     I was on a roll.

 

     So next, I asked... "And what's the young lady s'posed to do in the meantime?"

 

     The General Manager stepped forward with a smile and said, "Miss... right there's a brand-spanking new Ford LDT Crown Victoria.  Here's the keys.  You just take that car and use it for as long as it takes us to properly fix the Rabbit.  NO CHARGE!"

 

 

 

 

 

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

Wonderful, and yes you have told us this'n before but it was a while ago and some of us might have not remembered; I wasn't sure until you got to the bit about getting it into the dealership afterhours .

Just as entertaining this time 'round too   

[Alpo]

Did they fix it? How long did it take for them to fix it? Did it stay fixed? And what was wrong with it?

 

Come on now Mr Harvey. We want the rest of the story.

[Cholla]

22 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Did they fix it? How long did it take for them to fix it? Did it stay fixed? And what was wrong with it?

 

Come on now Mr Harvey. We want the rest of the story.

I'm guessing Harvey is the Rabbit?

[Michigan Slim]

I worked as building maintenance for a large dealership group here recently. It was a great job with some great people, but..... I got to overhear the sales people and the service writers as they put an outright screwing to people. I started overcharging THEM for my services and felt real comfy doing it. Felt good to screw the screwers. I left there about three years ago. It was a job between jobs. When my current contract ends I will go back if I can. They have not hired anybody nor fixed anything since I left. I could make a real nice living there now that I know how to play THEIR game.

[Alpo]

3 minutes ago, Cholla said:

I'm guessing Harvey is the Rabbit?

Paul Harvey - the rest of the story.

 

Lordy lordy, has he been dead that long? People don't remember him?

[Cypress Sun]

Hardpan, your gal wasn't pregnant by chance, was she? This could explain things.

[Pat Riot]

I love that story Hardpan. I didn’t recall it either until you got to the part about parking the car near the doorway. 
 

 

5 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Paul Harvey - the rest of the story.

 

Lordy lordy, has he been dead that long? People don't remember him?

I kind of doubt Paul Harvey was broadcast in Australia. His thing was Americana. 

[Eyesa Horg]

I like the part about getting " nearly killed to death" . This was an excellent story. Thanks

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557]

OK, but please tell us, what was wrong with it?  If not this will bounce around in my brain for hours!

[Alpo]

22 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I kind of doubt Paul Harvey was broadcast in Australia. His thing was Americana. 

Cholla lives in Australia? I thought he was in Arizona, since he hunts rattlesnakes.

 

Although his profile says he lives in the state of AT, wherever the hell that is.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

No, she was not preggers....  

 

They never fixed it.

 

The following weekend, I drove her to the dealership "just to look at new cars."

 

They knew who we were, and were more than happy to make her a good deal - actually, the salesman, after consulting with the manager, said "Look.  We will give you HIGH BLUE BOOK for your Rabbit, and sell you a new car at $500 over our invoice."

 

She drove out in a brand-new, nicely appointed "Titian Red" Jetta, which served well until I almost got killed in it several years later - at a standstill, rear-ended by a fella in a similar-sized Japanese car going an estimated 35 mph.  Knocked me over a berm and into the side of a tree-grinding trailer being towed behind a truck (he was going about 40); ricochet'd back over the berm, bounced around a while.  Hit the trailer so hard it broke loose from the truck.  Hit so hard the driver's seat snapped loose and I was bouncing about like a bean in a can.  Hit so hard it broke the circuit board in the radio.  Hit so hard there was nothing left aft of the rear window.  But thanks to good German "crumple zone" engineering, there was not so much as a crack in any of the glass.

 

 

[Cholla]

41 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Cholla lives in Australia? I thought he was in Arizona, since he hunts rattlesnakes.

 

Although his profile says he lives in the state of AT, wherever the hell that is.

AT: Arizona Territory.

 

My reference was to the movie with Jimmy Stewart and his imaginary rabbit, Harvey. It was a joke, one that seems to have missed the mark.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/

[Alpo]

I understood Harvey - the rabbit.

 

I just thought that you missed it, and was scrambling around trying to make sense of what I said.

[Pat Riot]

3 hours ago, Alpo said:

Cholla lives in Australia? I thought he was in Arizona, since he hunts rattlesnakes.

 

Although his profile says he lives in the state of AT, wherever the hell that is.

 holy cow! I thought @Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 made that comment. Duh!…

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

 holy cow! I thought @Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 made that comment. Duh!…

 

 

  .... would you please, kindly leave me outa this ....... I've only had ONE coffee so far tomorrow morning .....   

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I took my 2012 Corolla in for my annual inspection and an oil/filter change today. Yes NH requires an annual safety inspection.  I skipped the 2021 so I was “a tad” overdue.

 

I had a $20 off coupon for the overpriced oil change but left it for those two items. Mileage was 67661. Service guy came out and mentioned three things. It has been two years since I had a front end alignment. I asked no many miles.  It was 63000 miles then.  “We’ll skip that.” Toyota recommends a. Break fluid service at 30,000. Because I moved a few years ago he did not know if it had been done.  Any, again NO.  WOULD HAVE BEEN $139.  AND Toyota recommends a “top engine clean” at 30,000 miles. Again no.

 

now, what frosts my buns,….  The tire warning light was on, normally the service dude resets the light or researches it.  Sooo, I read the invoice. It said “client declined complimentary 27 point vehicle checkup. I did no such thing.

[Eyesa Horg]

They did the same thing at the Chevy dealership I worked at.If you didn't do the unneeded things they found on the 27 point inspection, it went down as refused. God help the customer if something failed under warranty after that. Not a place to work if you are honest. When they let me go, they said " you have a good heart and take care of the customers, but we're here to make money, not friends"

[Blackwater 53393]

As a professional automotive repair technician, dealerships are just “college” for advanced repair procedures and techniques.   You go there and learn and then either find gainful employment in an honest facility or go to work “for the public”.

[Doc X]

I bought the wife a brand new 1997 Pontiac Bonneville on the Friday after Thanksgiving. That following Monday morning she had a doctor's appointment in Ft Wayne, and it was snowing real hard. So when I got home from my 3rd shift job she asked if I would drive her, how could I say no? About half way to Ft Wayne the anti-lock warning light came on. Seriously? The car had less than 300 miles on it! Since we had plenty of time I stopped at the dealership to get it looked at. The service manager bluntly told me that he was a guy short and very busy and couldn't even look at my brand new car. To say I exploded would be like calling Hiroshima a firecracker. With a finger stuck in his nose (he was about 6'8") I explained in a very loud voice that I had just purchased this piece of junk not 48 hours ago and he could either fix the blank blank thing or bring me the keys to my old Thunderbird and we'd forget the whole blanking deal. I stomped off to the waiting room with the wife in tow. In about 5 minutes a shorter very well dressed gentleman walked in with the service manager behind him looking like he'd had about 5 pounds ripped off his back side. The fellow introduced himself as the owner of the dealership (Michigan Slim would recognize the name) and apologized for my inconvenience. He explained that the garage was indeed very busy but handed me a set of keys to another new Bonneville and told me to keep it until they had ours fixed. When I picked the car up a week later it was completely re-detailed and good to go when the new service manager handed me the keys.