Car Dealership Fibs and Other Things in My Life

A friend and I had a lovely lunch at a local eatery. I had tilapia and she, thinking she should be eating more fish, ordered tilapia also. It came with a mango salsa and four shrimp. Delicious.

Dropping her off after a couple of shopping stops, we both heard a noise coming from the engine of the car. It sounded like 'thwik, thwick, thwick' a soft, swift sound. She said I should let my husband look at the engine. This sent us into uproarious gales of laughter, but I guess you would have to know my husband to join this inside joke.

I was leaving the next day at noon for a two-day conference in Indianapolis, about three hours away. I couldn't risk breaking down on the highway....not much but cornfields between us and Indy.

Jim and I drove right to the dealer. A service representative, let's just call him B, came right out to talk to us. The noise was obvious. It was probably a water pump that would need to be replaced. B said 1) he had no mechanics available right then to look at it, and 2) the dealer had no loaners available and 3) it would take a day or two to get the car in for service.

Jim must have given B his 'grumble, grumble' look because B went into the office and returned with a woman who diagnosed the water pump problem. Jim told her, B standing by, that I needed to leave for Indy the next noon. She said 1) the dealer had loaners, and 2) perhaps they could get it done in time so I could drive my own car.

The loaner auto, and yes I know I should be grateful that they gave me one, was a 2014 model.  A low-end model. One that used the key to open the doors. Cloth seats. And a half tank of gas. Like my dad used to say "A piece of junk."

Leaving our car we filled up the loaner with a full tank of gas to get me to Indy.

I searched the Internet for the cost of replacing a water pump. I plugged on our make/model/year of auto and came up with the average cost for this service throughout the USA. Costs ranged from $280-$400. I figured ours would be on the higher end.

The next day, at 11:45 AM, the dealer called....you guessed it, the car was ready. So B told us three big fibbers. We won't waste our time talking to B again if we ever return to the dealer.

Apparently one can't replace a water pump without finding other 'little' things that need attention. Our cost for the water pump was $700. With the 'little' things that needed attention our total bill was over $900.  And yes, they did call and give us this estimate but really, they had us over a barrel.

Or as my dad would say, "They saw you coming." They also got our half tank of gas.