bloodsong1 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodsong1) wrote2013-01-17 02:46 pm
bloodsong1) wrote2013-01-17 02:46 pm
Let's talk about cars, shall we?
So my lease is up this October and I'm debating what to do. Do I keep Ripley and find a way to pay the ginormous balloon payment car dealers stick leased cars with, or do I trade her in on another lease, or do I trade her in and buy something like a Maxima or an Altima?
I haven't decided yet. I would prefer to own a car outright, but it depends on the costs.
Today I took her in for service. As I noticed she was just over 30k, I asked for that service to be done, along with tire rotation.
"Sure, it'll be about 3 hours," says the very nice tech.
"Huh. Okay, don't do a half-assed job," says SNB.
"Right-o!" We walk out to Sam's, as I needed to pick up my script, and I apologized for not knowing the wait time. SNB shrugs, as there's nothing we can really do about it, but he's ADD, so we need to find something to keep him from being bored.
(I, on the other hand, can happily sit for 3 hours in a waiting room playing on my phone, watching television and/or reading magazines.)
We wander Barnes & Nobles for about an hour.half, then head over to Taco Bell for lunch, then head back to the dealer. He calls us as we're getting close and is ready with the bill when we arrive.
$255 for 2.3 hours of service, oil, air & cabin air filter, new battery for my key fob, all fluids changed and/or topped off, brakes checked and adjusted and oh, by the way, your rear wheels were bent, so we fixed those and made sure your alignment was correct and we didn't charge you for that.
"Cool!" says I and I pay the bill. We end up cooling our heels for another 15 minutes while they wash Ripley, part of the service. Very Nice Tech calls SNB my husband and I chuckle as I correct him.
"I'm sorry, you act like a married couple!" He says. We thank him, shake hands and part ways.
SNB asks to see the bill as we drive home.
He is not happy.
Turns out he knows how to change oil and such, so to spend that much money for labor time (the bulk of the cost) is obscene and ridiculous and how can you justify paying this when his family had 3 cars growing up and they NEVER serviced anything until something blew up or fell apart.
"I have no problem paying labor time to people who are qualified to do the job," I explain.
He is not happy with me.
I realize I draw a lot of experience about cars from my former job, which were Mercedes and Audis and BMWs, much more expensive cars then my little Sentra. I also know what can happen to a car engine that's not properly serviced. No, really. It WILL come back to bite you in the butt. I don't care WHAT car you drive, changing fluids is REQUIRED MAINTENANCE. If you want to do it yourself, fine. Save that hundred or so now, you're gonna need it later.
I also realize I'm not making $14/hour anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm going to skimp on my vehicle. I NEED my car.
I am waiting to see if this becomes an issue.
I haven't decided yet. I would prefer to own a car outright, but it depends on the costs.
Today I took her in for service. As I noticed she was just over 30k, I asked for that service to be done, along with tire rotation.
"Sure, it'll be about 3 hours," says the very nice tech.
"Huh. Okay, don't do a half-assed job," says SNB.
"Right-o!" We walk out to Sam's, as I needed to pick up my script, and I apologized for not knowing the wait time. SNB shrugs, as there's nothing we can really do about it, but he's ADD, so we need to find something to keep him from being bored.
(I, on the other hand, can happily sit for 3 hours in a waiting room playing on my phone, watching television and/or reading magazines.)
We wander Barnes & Nobles for about an hour.half, then head over to Taco Bell for lunch, then head back to the dealer. He calls us as we're getting close and is ready with the bill when we arrive.
$255 for 2.3 hours of service, oil, air & cabin air filter, new battery for my key fob, all fluids changed and/or topped off, brakes checked and adjusted and oh, by the way, your rear wheels were bent, so we fixed those and made sure your alignment was correct and we didn't charge you for that.
"Cool!" says I and I pay the bill. We end up cooling our heels for another 15 minutes while they wash Ripley, part of the service. Very Nice Tech calls SNB my husband and I chuckle as I correct him.
"I'm sorry, you act like a married couple!" He says. We thank him, shake hands and part ways.
SNB asks to see the bill as we drive home.
He is not happy.
Turns out he knows how to change oil and such, so to spend that much money for labor time (the bulk of the cost) is obscene and ridiculous and how can you justify paying this when his family had 3 cars growing up and they NEVER serviced anything until something blew up or fell apart.
"I have no problem paying labor time to people who are qualified to do the job," I explain.
He is not happy with me.
I realize I draw a lot of experience about cars from my former job, which were Mercedes and Audis and BMWs, much more expensive cars then my little Sentra. I also know what can happen to a car engine that's not properly serviced. No, really. It WILL come back to bite you in the butt. I don't care WHAT car you drive, changing fluids is REQUIRED MAINTENANCE. If you want to do it yourself, fine. Save that hundred or so now, you're gonna need it later.
I also realize I'm not making $14/hour anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm going to skimp on my vehicle. I NEED my car.
I am waiting to see if this becomes an issue.