Car Troubles

Last week (Monday) I decided to trade in my 2003 Honda Element for something a bit smaller, with better fuel economy, lower payments, and less miles (the Element had 117,000). Well, one out of four ain't bad - I purchased a brand new 2008 Honda Ridgeline. I did a ton of research, spent 5 hours at the dealership over 3 days trying to talk myself out of making an impulsive decision. I REALLY liked the showroom model, which happened to be the last of that color, so I watched as they rearranged the showroom to get my new truck out for me.

So the truck is fucking awesome and I love driving it. On Wednesday, while I was walking around the passenger's side something caught my eye. Several small scratches around the rear wheel well with a chip. A fucking chip in the paint. Exposed steel underneath it. Which, by the way, looked like it was already on the way to rusting.

The scratches look like they were caused by something hard brushing up against the rear fender. A baby stroller, perhaps. Considering the truck was sitting in the showroom for at least a week, I'm definitely not ruling out the idea that some middle-aged woman wheeled her six-month-old shit factory into the fender, but a variety of things could have caused it.

I went straight to the dealership and spoke with my sales guy and the customer relations manager. First, my sales guy asks if I live in a rough neighborhood. Yeah, the ski/golf resort community I live in is plagued by a group of rogue midgets who runs around scratching people's wheel wells. Then he, the customer relations manager (who I actually can't complain about.. he's a nice enough guy), and about six other sales people run over to inspect the damage on my truck. The customer relationship then comes back in and goes to the sales desk (the guys in $75 JC Penney power suits who chat about last night's Red Sox game whilst the sales person pretends to try to get a better deal). I overhear one of the oversized testicles at the desk say "it'll be cheaper to install fender flares."

Wrong answer, bitch-tits. I may not be an expert on steel's properties regarding moisture and oxidation, but I believe that rust + something covering rust = more rust. Not to mention it's a pickup truck, not a ricer.

The decision is made to re-paint the fender. I set up an appointment with the service department and enjoy my weekend. On Tuesday morning, I drop off the truck. Since there's no guarantee I'll have my truck back the same day, they set me up with a rental car. I get a call from the service advisor later Tuesday afternoon and the truck is not ready yet, should be ready tomorrow (Wednesday). Wednesday afternoon, I get a voice mail from the same guy stating that the truck came back but that you could see the scratches through the new paint. No sanding, no primer, just touch-up paint over their fuck-up. So he sent it back to the body shop. I keep my rental overnight again.

The rental paperwork said I had two days, so I called this afternoon to find out the status and avoid having to pay for the rental. Turns out they returned it again late yesterday and even though it was better, it still wasn't 100%. So he sent it back a third time.

Now, credit to the service advisor for actually looking at the truck and making sure it's in brand new condition. While his quality control is responsible for my being without my truck for three days, I certainly appreciate that he's making sure the job is done. But if the goat-felching ass hairs in the body shop (that was for Dixon Tufar BTW) are getting paid to make a new car look new, perhaps they should not half-ass their job by tossing $2 fucking .50 worth of touch-up paint on my car.

So that's where I'm at right now. I have a bunch of plans for the weekend and if these technical school drop-outs fuck it up a third time I'm asking for another new car.