I know I haven't posted in quite some time and I promise to remedy that tomorrow (well, later today really) but I can't sleep and I believe it's because our poor Goldilocks deserves her own farewell post so here it goes...
I think most of you out there know our darling "Goldilocks" ~ our Gold colored Mercury Villager ~ so named by the kids on the day we got her and forevermore known as. She has been a great vehicle for us. She made more trips from North Carolina to Florida and now Florida to North Carolina than I care to remember and been eaten in, spilled in, peed in (you know who you are out there!), neglected, been the death of more love bugs than any other vehicle and still has the scars to prove it! I guess her greatest feat was the trip from NC (where we lived at the time) over to Clarksville to see Paul and Shannon, then up to Indiana to see "they who shall not be named" (don't ya love Harry Potter?), then down through Nashville (Ricardo always wanted to see it) to Alabama to see my sisters and their families and then down to Florida in time for my mother-in-law's birthday (Don't worry Ginky, I won't say which one!), catch up with some old friends (hey Ralph) and family and then back to North Carolina. A great 2 week trip if there ever was one.
Well Goldilocks has been taken out to the "Farm" where she can spend the rest of her days with lots of other cars running free and happy. If you've been following my car saga of late you know there have been troubles and the troubles continued... lets see where we left off... oh yes, finding a new mechanic...
Since she's still under the Tires Plus warranty I find another Tires Plus located 20 minutes away in Merritt Island and take her there to be checked out and tell them my oh so very long tale of Whoa and they promise to "get to the bottom of the situation and make everything right." RIGHT ~ NOT!!! What they do is proceed (but in a timely manor) to give me yet another $800 list of new things wrong that ABSOLUTELY need to get fixed. Now I'm no mechanical genius but I say these things didn't happen in the last week so why wasn't I told about these with my first $800 list of what I consider the not so important stuff that goes under the heading of "It if ain't broke don't fix it" like my battery that I had no problem with but they said read dead and the hoses that weren't really broken but "needed" to be replaced. Anyway I told the mechanic that if I had been given a list of $1600 that needed to be fixed (oh yeah and an oil leak I MUST KEEP AN EYE ON but is not included in this list I wouldn't not have chosen to fix the inconsequential stuff and I'm not putting another $800 in this car so please close her back up (without fixing her). Maybe it's time for her to visit "the farm". I guess they weren't really pleased with my decision because on her way home she got even worse. She's overheating again (although they say she has fluid and no leak) and now starting to miss gears and stall. At this point I'm panicking and calling Richard and freaking out so he sends me on an Internet mission when I get home to look at cars which I proceed to do for the next 3 hours. Y'all there are lots of cars out there and since I'm not really a "car" person it's hard to narrow it down but I do make a decision that our first stop is going to be at Space Coast Honda where I've now had two really nice conversations with a young salesman named Justin Bishop. I actually went there to look at Elements but after many long hours with two starving and tired children and two hungry and exhausted adults and a very patient salesman with all of us, so many negotiations but not a lot of pressure for which I am so thankful for, a few test drives ~ I am the proud and happy owner of a silver Honda CR-V (not yet named - Buggy suggested Sylvia - but already loved)
I think most of you out there know our darling "Goldilocks" ~ our Gold colored Mercury Villager ~ so named by the kids on the day we got her and forevermore known as. She has been a great vehicle for us. She made more trips from North Carolina to Florida and now Florida to North Carolina than I care to remember and been eaten in, spilled in, peed in (you know who you are out there!), neglected, been the death of more love bugs than any other vehicle and still has the scars to prove it! I guess her greatest feat was the trip from NC (where we lived at the time) over to Clarksville to see Paul and Shannon, then up to Indiana to see "they who shall not be named" (don't ya love Harry Potter?), then down through Nashville (Ricardo always wanted to see it) to Alabama to see my sisters and their families and then down to Florida in time for my mother-in-law's birthday (Don't worry Ginky, I won't say which one!), catch up with some old friends (hey Ralph) and family and then back to North Carolina. A great 2 week trip if there ever was one.
Well Goldilocks has been taken out to the "Farm" where she can spend the rest of her days with lots of other cars running free and happy. If you've been following my car saga of late you know there have been troubles and the troubles continued... lets see where we left off... oh yes, finding a new mechanic...
Since she's still under the Tires Plus warranty I find another Tires Plus located 20 minutes away in Merritt Island and take her there to be checked out and tell them my oh so very long tale of Whoa and they promise to "get to the bottom of the situation and make everything right." RIGHT ~ NOT!!! What they do is proceed (but in a timely manor) to give me yet another $800 list of new things wrong that ABSOLUTELY need to get fixed. Now I'm no mechanical genius but I say these things didn't happen in the last week so why wasn't I told about these with my first $800 list of what I consider the not so important stuff that goes under the heading of "It if ain't broke don't fix it" like my battery that I had no problem with but they said read dead and the hoses that weren't really broken but "needed" to be replaced. Anyway I told the mechanic that if I had been given a list of $1600 that needed to be fixed (oh yeah and an oil leak I MUST KEEP AN EYE ON but is not included in this list I wouldn't not have chosen to fix the inconsequential stuff and I'm not putting another $800 in this car so please close her back up (without fixing her). Maybe it's time for her to visit "the farm". I guess they weren't really pleased with my decision because on her way home she got even worse. She's overheating again (although they say she has fluid and no leak) and now starting to miss gears and stall. At this point I'm panicking and calling Richard and freaking out so he sends me on an Internet mission when I get home to look at cars which I proceed to do for the next 3 hours. Y'all there are lots of cars out there and since I'm not really a "car" person it's hard to narrow it down but I do make a decision that our first stop is going to be at Space Coast Honda where I've now had two really nice conversations with a young salesman named Justin Bishop. I actually went there to look at Elements but after many long hours with two starving and tired children and two hungry and exhausted adults and a very patient salesman with all of us, so many negotiations but not a lot of pressure for which I am so thankful for, a few test drives ~ I am the proud and happy owner of a silver Honda CR-V (not yet named - Buggy suggested Sylvia - but already loved)
So what is to become of our fair "Goldilocks"? She was a good car and I don't blame all this nastiness on her. She was a victim in all of this. We traded her in but her story doesn't end there. On the way to bring her to the dealership (the day after getting the new car) the poor baby died on I-95. Richard was able to revive her twice and get her off the highway but we ended up having her towed into the dealership, saving what was left of her dignity.
I believe she was again molested by the mechanics because I wouldn't let them perform yet more acts of aggression on her (and for which someone somewhere is going to be getting an earful from me in the morning) ~ in other words they did something to her to cause her to be in worse shape in hopes that I'd HAVE TO get her fixed. The dealership and specifically Jason was great about the whole thing when I called and explained the situation. The trade in was still honored for which I am grateful and if I was still of child bearing years I'd name my next child after him but thank GOD I am not and I think I'll leave that up to him (he's got one due in Nov!) . I guess all's well that ends well. We'll miss Goldilocks ~ the kids are sad to see her go. It's the only car they remember me having.
Richard and I are happy with the new car (I let him drive us home tonight cause I am such a good wife ~ that along with the two "drinks" I had at dinner tonight so it seemed like a good idea). I am looking forward to lots of new adventures and great stories with her. Thus ends the story of Goldilocks and the Alburys. So, how was your day?
2 comments:
I like the new car! Not nearly as cool as mine, though!! :-)
Mine is not only cooler, it's newer ~ so there!
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