nervous, bmw style

a brief history of me and mechanics…

(abridged version: 2000 – Present)

2006 – malibu dies in traffic, take malibu in, found to have internal leak that is leeching coolant into oil, so they put heavy gauge oil in to get me home which only gets me to south austin and the car never starts again.

2008 – camaro (malibu’s replacement) has weird light issue on new year’s eve so i replace switch and still get stranded out due to no lights and active warrant. finally taken to garage for $100 diagnostic and i’m told it’s a $600 part (true) that is only available from chevrolet – there’s no aftermarket equivalent (also true), and total repair is gonna run around $750. i google part location, find it’s just a wire rubbing it and grounding out the light switch, so i relocate said part two inches and wrap wire in electrical tape. total ACTUAL cost – an hour out of my day and a ninety-seven cent roll of electrical tape.

2016 – i finally get $500 to fix top on mr. grey (camaro’s replacement) and give it one last manual test to see if i can even move top by hand (nope!) and so i tighten everything down and take it in. the verdict? wiring issue, that is fixed, and latch lock WHICH WASN’T BROKEN WHEN I TOOK IT IN and that’s a $600 repair, and since it’s my birthday week (true) and they know my limit is $500 (also true) they just give me back without any charge or paperwork (which sounds like a favor but in hindsight was done to avoid any legal recourse by me for broken top lock since on paper nothing ever happened) and his top STILL doesn’t work.

2018 – black betty (mr. grey’s beamer buddy – he can never be “replaced”, i still own him, and will be driving him around this week) goes in for what has been determined to be a turbo boost leak. the positives:

1. chris is there, and he’s a bmw bad ass
2. i got forced into a bumper to bumper warranty that should cover all repairs save for $150 deductible when i bought her

the downside – i don’t know 100% if all repairs are covered and it’s the same garage where i suspect a tech broke grey’s top…but chris wasn’t there then, and he’s always been super dope and takes care of me. shit, he’s fixed both me AND shane’s car over the phone just by me describing problems…and he said he’d personally oversee her repair this week, and when i drive grey up to pick her up thursday they’re gonna take him and make the top thing right so i can enjoy topless driving for the fall. guess this “downside” might be quite the opposite when all is said and done! follow up bit to come!