the car debacle, part 2342
sigh. the fun never stops at the richardson household. here's the latest story of the CrashMobile:
a couple of weeks ago, i got hit by a chick coming out of an alley. i don't know if i told you about this crash meeting. ;) she hit the passenger side (the usual spot) but not nearly as bad as the last bout of damage. still, it's abut $3400 worth of crinkles. sigh.
so, i drop the car off a week later. get a car rental from enterprise. they got this sweet volvo hard-top convertible that was unexpectedly dropped off at their location and they gave me a great rate on it (not that i'm paying for the whole thing, but still) so i took it. it was a weird car to drive, you sit low and there are blind spots every where. i guess i'm getting old in my car taste. and this car feels huge, even though i don't think it's any bigger than the Mazda. anyway, i drive it to a train stop yesterday because i have my christmas party and i'm going to get out early and i was planning on doing some shopping. then, during the day, i get this great idea to meet scott in lincoln square and hang out with him and get some indian food and have a great time. i was dressed to the nines and i wanted to enjoy being out.
so we meet at a record shop at 4:30. he says, "we have to go home to get my cell phone." ok, good thing i forgot to pay the meter. but the bigger mistake was letting him drive home. he doesn't like the car for the same reasons i don't, but he's not a very versatile driver. our new plan was for me to wait in the car while he runs up and gets his phone. then we would go back to LS. so he goes to pull into a large parking spot in front of the house and he jumps the curb with the front passenger side tire. i think he's done some damage to the ground effects, but when i open my door i hear, "ssssssssssssssssss." he blew the front tire.
now this in itself isn't a big deal. i already knew that our night plans were shot, so i told him his penance was to pay for our ordered-out indian food while i called AAA. 45 minutes the AAA guy comes. i go outside and hang out with this guy (scott had an "errand" to run. won't discuss over email, but you can probably figure it out). he's trying to open the hatch that we think the spare is in. it's hex-wrenched closed, so that's not a good sign. after about 20 minutes, we realize that there's no spare. there's no room for a spare. because it's hard-top convertible, it wasn't designed with a spare.
by this time i'm laughing my ass off. in the 800 times i've had a rental car, i've never blown a tire. i've never needed any road side assistance whatsoever. then my husband drives a nice luxury car with no spare for 10 minutes and blows the tire out. and he says, "this is exactly why we can't have nice things."
so i call enterprise's roadside assistance and tell them the story. they now have to do a "tow-trade," which means that they have to tow another car to our place from the O'Hare enterprise (the only one that's open) and tow the volvo away. sigh. i ask for a smaller sedan, like a mid-size or a compact. 120 minutes later, a tow truck shows up with a (get this) CROWN VICTORIA! really? the tow guy said they can't downgrade so i got a comparable full-size car. sheesh. the dude on the phone never told me that. of course, he never said what kind of car i was getting.
so, annoying story longer, we now have a crown vic. tomorrow, i plan on going to enterprise and trading it in for a smaller car, or else that boat of a vehicle is going to sit in that space for 2 weeks because i'm afraid i'll never find another spot big enough for it.
some day this will all end. i'm not sure when, but soon. right?
a couple of weeks ago, i got hit by a chick coming out of an alley. i don't know if i told you about this crash meeting. ;) she hit the passenger side (the usual spot) but not nearly as bad as the last bout of damage. still, it's abut $3400 worth of crinkles. sigh.
so, i drop the car off a week later. get a car rental from enterprise. they got this sweet volvo hard-top convertible that was unexpectedly dropped off at their location and they gave me a great rate on it (not that i'm paying for the whole thing, but still) so i took it. it was a weird car to drive, you sit low and there are blind spots every where. i guess i'm getting old in my car taste. and this car feels huge, even though i don't think it's any bigger than the Mazda. anyway, i drive it to a train stop yesterday because i have my christmas party and i'm going to get out early and i was planning on doing some shopping. then, during the day, i get this great idea to meet scott in lincoln square and hang out with him and get some indian food and have a great time. i was dressed to the nines and i wanted to enjoy being out.
so we meet at a record shop at 4:30. he says, "we have to go home to get my cell phone." ok, good thing i forgot to pay the meter. but the bigger mistake was letting him drive home. he doesn't like the car for the same reasons i don't, but he's not a very versatile driver. our new plan was for me to wait in the car while he runs up and gets his phone. then we would go back to LS. so he goes to pull into a large parking spot in front of the house and he jumps the curb with the front passenger side tire. i think he's done some damage to the ground effects, but when i open my door i hear, "ssssssssssssssssss." he blew the front tire.
now this in itself isn't a big deal. i already knew that our night plans were shot, so i told him his penance was to pay for our ordered-out indian food while i called AAA. 45 minutes the AAA guy comes. i go outside and hang out with this guy (scott had an "errand" to run. won't discuss over email, but you can probably figure it out). he's trying to open the hatch that we think the spare is in. it's hex-wrenched closed, so that's not a good sign. after about 20 minutes, we realize that there's no spare. there's no room for a spare. because it's hard-top convertible, it wasn't designed with a spare.
by this time i'm laughing my ass off. in the 800 times i've had a rental car, i've never blown a tire. i've never needed any road side assistance whatsoever. then my husband drives a nice luxury car with no spare for 10 minutes and blows the tire out. and he says, "this is exactly why we can't have nice things."
so i call enterprise's roadside assistance and tell them the story. they now have to do a "tow-trade," which means that they have to tow another car to our place from the O'Hare enterprise (the only one that's open) and tow the volvo away. sigh. i ask for a smaller sedan, like a mid-size or a compact. 120 minutes later, a tow truck shows up with a (get this) CROWN VICTORIA! really? the tow guy said they can't downgrade so i got a comparable full-size car. sheesh. the dude on the phone never told me that. of course, he never said what kind of car i was getting.
so, annoying story longer, we now have a crown vic. tomorrow, i plan on going to enterprise and trading it in for a smaller car, or else that boat of a vehicle is going to sit in that space for 2 weeks because i'm afraid i'll never find another spot big enough for it.
some day this will all end. i'm not sure when, but soon. right?
posted by mikraas at 10:42 PM
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