January 13, 2010

Van repairs

We had to take my beloved van into the dealership to investigate the strange noise it has been making. It is still under warranty, thank goodness, so we call to make an appointment to get it in. They tell us between 7a.m and 8a.m. I am apparently ignorant when it comes to how car service departments work. I assume that because an appointment was made, they'd diagnose it then, and then we line up another time to get it in to be fixed. I worked Monday night and Tuesday a.m., Husband drops it off a the dealership. They say they'll need to keep it until about 6p.m. WTH?! We have the van and a Lancer - the 3 car seats will not fit in the Lancer. Our kids are in school and daycare (so we could take care of the car) and we not only are supposed to go without our van, but the ride they promised Husband was only good for in-town rides. I'm irritated because in my mind, they shouldn't have us bring it in a 8a.m. to not get to it until later that day. Isn't that why we made an appointment? I guess that's just not how it works. Husband tells them we'll bring it back another time when we can make arrangements to get him back home, and for a day we don't have to take the kids anywhere. Suddenly, they are able to diagnose it in the next hour. I found that interesting. So they figure out the problem, our warranty will cover it and they will supply a rental car. I was to drop it off this a.m. so the warranty guys can "approve" it and they will get it fixed by the end of the week. They were to also have the rental car that would hold 3 cars seats ready for me so I wouldn't have to wait with Clara and Isaiah. Well, it of course didn't happen quite that smoothly. They did say the warrant guys would be in after lunch, and they'd call to let us know if they approved it. Didn't act like it would be a problem. They guy then asked if I needed a ride somewhere. I got a bit anxious. I told him I live out of town and was told a rental car big enough for 3 car seats would be available. He does call the rental company, but said we would probably pay out of pocket for the rental car, even though we were told it was covered. Whatever, I had to have a vehicle. So the rental car guy shows up with an Impala. Nice car, but I was a bit worried the car seats would fit. I did manage to get them in, but there isn't any room between the seats. The guy called to see if they had an SUV or van available after seeing the 3 seats, but alas, no. I just wonder what we would have done if I had 4 kids in car seats. oh well. They van is in, I have a car that we can drive until it's done and we got home without a fight between Clara and Isaiah. We'll see how well it goes when I have all 3 kids in the car, within punching distance of each other.

2 comments:

Heather said...

So sorry your dealership is being such a pain. That is how most of them are though. Husband & I own a shop and while yes they have people drop off in the morning so they can work on it later in the day, we have two loaner cars one is a van... with car seats already installed.

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