The service advisor was this nice young man named Brian who reminded me SO MUCH of my friend Michael of the Newlyweds. He had the same body shape, haircut, manner of speaking, and even wears glasses like Michael. I explained the symptoms I'd been having as well as the other 2 attempts to have it diagnosed and fixed. I also told him I'd like an estimate for replacing the plastic window in the roof. I told him that since the dealership is 30 minutes from Lewes and I had no way to get back home, I would wait for the estimates. He said he should be able to get back to me in about an hour.
I strolled around outside, looking at the 'pre-owned' cars (nobody says 'used' cars anymore) on the lot, since Spouse & I have been hoping to trade in our Civic and Suburban. But everything they had was very recent and out of our price range, so I returned to the customer waiting area and started reading the book I'd brought.
A little over an hour later, Brian advised me that the trouble with the roof operation was the switch in the console. I'd suspected the switch and the 1st place I'd taken the car to had begun to replace it but told me that wasn't the problem. But I believed Brian, since his place had the technology to troubleshoot with accuracy. The good news was that the switch, labor, and fee to diagnose was only about $100. The bad news was that they didn't have the switch in stock, so they would have to order it and I'll have to bring the car back next Thurs.
Brian then told me the price to replace the plastic window and said that they had one in stock. I asked if they could go ahead and install it, since I was already there, and he said yes. He said it could take as much as 3 hours, but I suspected it would take less because I'd already gotten an estimate for this from another place and they said it would take just over an hour. Apparently that other shop was really familiar with how to do it, because it took the BMW place the full 3 hours. Fortunately I'd brought that book or I'd have been bored to tears. So Thurs I drove home with my new, crystal clear back plastic window. The original lasted for almost 12 years.
When Spouse came home he tossed some ingredients into the electric pressure cooker and we slipped down to Rehoboth to look at the new 'pre-owned' cars that had just arrived at his buddy Mark's car lot. A sliver 2001 Mercedes ML 320 and a silver 2004 Honda CRV caught our eyes.
Fri morning Joe called Mark and made an appointment to meet him at the lot at 1:00, while I got in touch with the credit union to see about a low interest car loan.
We met Mark at the lot and test drove both SUVs. We liked them both, but after not much deliberation we made a decision to buy the 2004 Honda CRV. It was a quick and painless transaction. Mark took both of our trades and put cardboard temporary plates on the CRV while we collected our personal stuff our of the Civic and Suburban, then we drove it home.
We ate dinner, packed a bag and tossed it and the dog into the CRV and headed back to DC for the weekend. We laughed out loud when we recalled buying the Suburban 4 years ago, on a Fri evening, and then immediately driving it to Lewes for the weekend.
Here's our new 'pre-owned' car:
Drag Queen name of the day: Anna Versary
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