Automotive update....
Aug. 14th, 2007 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osodecanelaMore from the "you can't make this up" department.
LJ drove me into town yesterday morning. It meant we both had to be up early to shower, take out the trash, walk the dog, feed the cats, drink copious amounts of coffee (2, 4, 6, 8; time for us to caffeinate!) and then brave the morning commute. LJ is not particularly fond of traffic, and Highway 101 through central Santa Rosa in rush-hour traffic is not his idea of a good time. Trooper that he is, he got me to the Mercedes dealership service department by a quarter to eight, some 15 minutes after they first opened. Not too shabby.
I really expected that they were going to be able to push some electronic device set for the frequency of my vehicle, and simply open the trunk. What I was told is that they have to await keys that would be overnighted from Texas, and that there was no way to get into the trunk without drilling through the lock. I was dumbfounded, although in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised. Moreover, I don't yet have title to this vehicle and the registration is still in the name of the man I bought the car from. I was told they would call the DMV, but if the DMV did not confirm that the car was mine, I'd have to produce Mr. Placencia along with his driver's license in order to get a replacement key.
Allow me to digress; Servando is in his early 20s, and went to work right out of high school. Two years ago he bought the Mercedes and semi-pimped it out (tinted rear windshield, tinted rear windows, 18 inch rims with low profile tires, premium sound system), but being as young as he was, and insurance being what it would be, the car was put in his father's name. His dad is an extremely nice man, I suspect my age, and speaks no English. When Servando decided to sell the car as he's starting college in Los Angeles this fall (UCLA engineering, the boy apparently is no dummy!), they went hunting for the title and could not find it. They went to DMV in May and applied for a replacement title, which came four weeks later, listing the mileage incorrectly. 160,000 miles instead of 60,000 miles. Just a small mistake. (What's an extra '1' among friends?) They immediately went back to DMV to get it corrected, but so far no title has arrived. Three weeks ago when we did the trip to the DMV, to process the bill of sale and transfer ownership, they informed us that the title had just been released that day. So far it still has not come. In order to save an extra fee to do the transfer without the title in hand, I paid the taxes on the transfer, so I would have some papers to put the car on my insurance, and we opted to wait for the title to arrive to transfer the vehicle into my name. Unfortunately, as of this afternoon it still has not come.
Late yesterday afternoon, Phil called from the dealership confirming he could not release a key to me, unless I produced the registered owner with license, hence the need for Don Chuy.
I left work a bit early today, to head over to Mercedes, while Chuy left his job in Petaluma at 4:45, right at the height of rush hour traffic heading north. Chuy and I spent 25 minutes on the cell, trying to direct him in to the service department, which was to say the least, challenging. My Spanish, while half way decent, is predominantly medical, and having to stop to think how an English word when read by a native Spanish speaker might be pronounced, can sometimes be rather distracting, particularly when you're also trying to figure out where they are, and how to give them directions to get to where they have to go. I kept telling him, he had to turn onto Talmage Street, but I wasn't certain if he was coming up Corby from the north or the south, so I couldn't tell him whether to make a right or a left. I realized later, he was coming from Bellevue to the south, which he kept calling "Beyevway". At the time I had no idea what he was talking about. Moreover, when he saw Talmage, in his mind it was pronounced "talmahey", so the first time he passed it, he went right by. I was beginning to get frantic, as 5:30 came and went, the service department was supposed to close, and poor Chuy, while nearby, was lost. Mercifully, Phil hung out reading the paper for the extra 15 minutes it took for Sr. Placencia to finally arrive. At five minutes to 6, some 48 hours after this saga began, I popped open the trunk with the new electronic key.
Friday, sometime during the day, Servando and I will meet his father at the DMV and will finally complete this transaction with all the necessary DMV paperwork, whether the damn title has arrived yet or not. I felt horrible having the inconvenience Mr. Plascencia just to get back in my vehicle. At least now I have the assurance it cannot happen again, as there are now two keyes to use. (Hosanna on high! Say amen!)
LJ drove me into town yesterday morning. It meant we both had to be up early to shower, take out the trash, walk the dog, feed the cats, drink copious amounts of coffee (2, 4, 6, 8; time for us to caffeinate!) and then brave the morning commute. LJ is not particularly fond of traffic, and Highway 101 through central Santa Rosa in rush-hour traffic is not his idea of a good time. Trooper that he is, he got me to the Mercedes dealership service department by a quarter to eight, some 15 minutes after they first opened. Not too shabby.
I really expected that they were going to be able to push some electronic device set for the frequency of my vehicle, and simply open the trunk. What I was told is that they have to await keys that would be overnighted from Texas, and that there was no way to get into the trunk without drilling through the lock. I was dumbfounded, although in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised. Moreover, I don't yet have title to this vehicle and the registration is still in the name of the man I bought the car from. I was told they would call the DMV, but if the DMV did not confirm that the car was mine, I'd have to produce Mr. Placencia along with his driver's license in order to get a replacement key.
Allow me to digress; Servando is in his early 20s, and went to work right out of high school. Two years ago he bought the Mercedes and semi-pimped it out (tinted rear windshield, tinted rear windows, 18 inch rims with low profile tires, premium sound system), but being as young as he was, and insurance being what it would be, the car was put in his father's name. His dad is an extremely nice man, I suspect my age, and speaks no English. When Servando decided to sell the car as he's starting college in Los Angeles this fall (UCLA engineering, the boy apparently is no dummy!), they went hunting for the title and could not find it. They went to DMV in May and applied for a replacement title, which came four weeks later, listing the mileage incorrectly. 160,000 miles instead of 60,000 miles. Just a small mistake. (What's an extra '1' among friends?) They immediately went back to DMV to get it corrected, but so far no title has arrived. Three weeks ago when we did the trip to the DMV, to process the bill of sale and transfer ownership, they informed us that the title had just been released that day. So far it still has not come. In order to save an extra fee to do the transfer without the title in hand, I paid the taxes on the transfer, so I would have some papers to put the car on my insurance, and we opted to wait for the title to arrive to transfer the vehicle into my name. Unfortunately, as of this afternoon it still has not come.
Late yesterday afternoon, Phil called from the dealership confirming he could not release a key to me, unless I produced the registered owner with license, hence the need for Don Chuy.
I left work a bit early today, to head over to Mercedes, while Chuy left his job in Petaluma at 4:45, right at the height of rush hour traffic heading north. Chuy and I spent 25 minutes on the cell, trying to direct him in to the service department, which was to say the least, challenging. My Spanish, while half way decent, is predominantly medical, and having to stop to think how an English word when read by a native Spanish speaker might be pronounced, can sometimes be rather distracting, particularly when you're also trying to figure out where they are, and how to give them directions to get to where they have to go. I kept telling him, he had to turn onto Talmage Street, but I wasn't certain if he was coming up Corby from the north or the south, so I couldn't tell him whether to make a right or a left. I realized later, he was coming from Bellevue to the south, which he kept calling "Beyevway". At the time I had no idea what he was talking about. Moreover, when he saw Talmage, in his mind it was pronounced "talmahey", so the first time he passed it, he went right by. I was beginning to get frantic, as 5:30 came and went, the service department was supposed to close, and poor Chuy, while nearby, was lost. Mercifully, Phil hung out reading the paper for the extra 15 minutes it took for Sr. Placencia to finally arrive. At five minutes to 6, some 48 hours after this saga began, I popped open the trunk with the new electronic key.
Friday, sometime during the day, Servando and I will meet his father at the DMV and will finally complete this transaction with all the necessary DMV paperwork, whether the damn title has arrived yet or not. I felt horrible having the inconvenience Mr. Plascencia just to get back in my vehicle. At least now I have the assurance it cannot happen again, as there are now two keyes to use. (Hosanna on high! Say amen!)
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Date: 2007-08-15 06:54 am (UTC)