Serious question. I only have the one car. I know there are people with more money than sense that have more cars than they can actually drive at a time, and that there are couples who may or may not be able to drive their SO to the mechanic. But how can they _assumef that I can even afford a cab, well Uber these days, when I’m about to have them hundreds of dollars getting my busted-ass, POS car fixed?
That’s the advantage of taking your car to the dealership, the dealership in my area gives you one of their brand new cars from the lot to drive around while you wait for your car to be fixed. It’s a sly trick that eventually works and gets you into a new car.
This is how I found out that Subaru’s adaptive cruise control from their 2020 (iirc) models is vastly superior to the adaptive cruise control on my 2017. It practically drives the car for you now.
Yeah. Because that’s just what the roads need. Drivers paying LESS attention…
Oh, I agree. I love adaptive cruise control because it makes driving so much simpler, safer, and more relaxing (especially as someone with a medical condition which makes my legs get tired).
But after getting that loaner, I became extremely concerned about the prospect of people growing up with that level of adaptive cruise control. It won’t be long before we have drivers who never really had to drive their car. I’m sure there are people who said the same about automatic transmissions, but being able to do basic things like stay between the lines when you drive is very different than having to shift gears on your transmission.
This but unironically
So… This?
The dealership I go to did this last time I needed a lot of work done and all it did was make me dread the day my car finally dies and I have to get a new one. Spent the whole way home fighting the stupid lane departure thing that was trying to force me into potholes and road debris. I was almost home before I figured out how to turn it off.
You CAN leave. If you have one car and that’s your mode of transportation then you realistically have only a few options to supplement your handicap of being car less:
- ride share
- gig economy (doordash/grubhub/etc and Instacart/gopuff, etc)
- work from home
- public transportation
- rental car
- loaner car if at a dealer and they have any available
- take sick days until your vehicle is repaired
What would you do? The repairs depend on what is wrong and sometimes those symptoms can be a menagerie of things that require troubleshooting what the actual root cause is. That takes time. Not to mention they may not even be able to check your car today at all. They have other customers with similar or worse issues all wanting their vehicle fixed ASAP as well and might also be a one car household.
Do you have insurance? See if they will cover a rental for you while your car is in the shop. Otherwise, find one of those other options above and figure things out.
Yes, a car is expensive and when it goes down then you are forced to find other ways to ensure you can make it.
Also, you know, getting friends and family to give you a ride.
I’ve also thrown my bike in the trunk and then biked home. Easy option for those able to bike and live close enough. Also, lots of cities now have bike share stations all around.
deleted by creator
But how can they _assumef that I can even afford a cab, well Uber these days, when I’m about to have them hundreds of dollars getting my busted-ass, POS car fixed?
Because they’re not your parents, and its not their job to be responsible for you between the time you give them your car and when they contact you to tell you its ready for you.
The shop’s statement of “you can come back in 3 hours to pick up your car” isn’t saying “we know you have other resources for transportation during the time when we’re working on your car” its the shop using a social shortcut to say “your car is unavailable to you for 3 hours while we work on it, and we have no need of you until then. You can go away for 3 hours and it won’t interfere with our work”.
A big reason for it is you bring your car for service. It’s going to take time. They have a bunch of cars to get through, they’ll look at yours, determine what you need, sell it to you, then order parts. In the meantime the tech has moved on to another car while they wait. You’re sitting in the waiting room wanting to know WHY IN THE HELL IS HE NOT WORKING ON MY CAR??!?!?! I’M SITTING HERE AND YOU’RE WASTING MY TIME!!! Then you’re mad it took half a day to get the parts in because the parts supplier had to run across town to get the parts and you leave a bad review. That bad review wasn’t fair and it hurts the shop.
At the end of the day, it’s not worth working on your car under those circumstances. You admit your car is a POS and you’re broke. That also means your car is going to need a lot of shit you can’t afford so you’re going to pick the bandaid to keep it going. Then a few weeks later something else breaks because you put the bandaid on it and now you’re mad and blame the shop. More crap the shop has to deal with when it wasn’t their fault or problem in the first place.
That’s a lot of assumptions to not even answer OPs question.
How long have you run a shop?
Now that’s two conversations you’ve avoided. Kudos for the irrelevant credentials check; if you were trying to avoid someone asking for yours, you’ve jumped the gun on that one too.
What didn’t I answer? Why they assume? They don’t assume, they just don’t want you waiting. I thought I made that clear. If you’re getting a tire rotation, brakes or an oil change, sure, nobody will mind if you wait. The way you’re acting here, I wouldn’t want you as a customer. It’s pretty neat being able to fire customers in this business. It saves a lot of hassle. Have a great day.
Wtf? Lol
Ah so you’ve had your computer repaired before.
I usually try to plan a few foot-based errands in the area while they work on my car: maybe the pharmacy for my meds or some toothpaste, the bakery for a couple of these cupcakes my daughter loves, browse the bookstore, talk with the tea shop owner.
We’re always in such a hurry and complain about missing the ‘community feeling’ of ‘the old days’, yet we never spend the time to just walk about the community, doing errands instead of “running errands”, casually catching up on events and goings-on. I like to use my time for that kind of thing.
I think this might read as a little tone deaf to the economic reality of many people.
Also mechanics are often in semi-industrial areas where the most community you’ll get is a homeless encampment and maybe a taco truck
A lot of these replies are tone deaf. Not everyone lives in a place where walking, biking, or even ride share is viable.
I think overall the responses are not tone deaf and are fairly reasonable. Most mechanics shops (aside from a minor two garage shop) that I have been to throughout my metroplex over a long period of years and multiple cars have jobs that take days due to analysis, buying parts and install. Unless I call ahead and schedule a very specific task where I know just taking in a book for 3 or 4 hours will work, I’m walking to the nearest bus stop, riding my bike or calling a cab. There are maybe 6 chairs and 15+ vehicles sitting outside or in bays from my experience. The customers are typically not sitting in the lobby. I think the OPs expectations are a bit off.
Nah, I have to disagree. People in general are FAR too eager to declare walking and biking as not viable. But the cars! I’ll get run over! But the walk! It’s more than two blocks, how can I survive without driving! Etc.
But this is exactly what I’m talking about. You’re assuming everyone lives in the cities and suburbs while forgetting that there are people who live in rural areas and are more than 10 miles from the nearest shop.
deleted by creator
Do you get shitty at pilots for landing the plane and just assuming everyone on board is good to get home from the airport, or would you like them to pay for 200 cab fares as well?
It’s their job to fix people’s shitty cars, not their shitty life admin skills.
Hell yeah, I’d like them to pay me £200 to get me home. Who doesn’t want free money? ✈️
Then the tickets would go up by £200 each, and you wouldn’t have the option to take the train or something else.
I mean…who steals a train???
this is a good example of when it helps to have friends.
I work near a shop, thankfully. Also, my wife and my parents live nearby. The irl social network is very beneficial.
What would you like them to do instead? How much extra are you able and willing to pay them so that they can do that and stay in business?
deleted by creator
Perfect timing on this post!
- I chose my “normal” garage partly because I can walk to it
- I occasionally have friends or family who can help
- otherwise I’ll just wait
However for the first time ever, I just got a loaner car from the dealer. Their estimate was they’d be done by last Wednesday but they haven’t started yet. Meanwhile the loaner is equivalent to my vehicle and it’s warranty work - they’re just making it damn expensive for themselves
The dealership probably gets reimbursed by the manufacturer for that loaner (and the warranty work).
Most people have a limit to the amount of time they’re willing to sit in a shop lobby.
Yeah I feel you here. They kind of look at me like what you’re going to stay? As if I’m the weird one for not having a personal driver to come get me at all times of the day. Like bitch no I don’t have that option. My options are sitting in your lobby or Trek miles through the 110° heat back to my home.
Do they assume that? I have an appointment scheduled tomorrow and plan to wait in their lobby.
They prefer that.
It is one thing if you are getting an oil change or tire rotation, it is another thing entirely when you have a check engine light or an electrical problem that needs diagnosis and there is no way of knowing how long it will take to find out the issue. Even worse is when it is an intermittent issue that the customer can’t narrow down to certain conditions.
Also your appointment will be more like a doctor’s appointment if things are busy, you car will be brought in when a qualified technician is available and not immediately after you hand over your keys.
when I’m about to have them hundreds of dollars getting my busted-ass, POS car fixed?
As someone who has only ever driven broken down POS, I feel for you OP. Focus on getting it running, not making it perfect. Wishing you well and hoping it’s cheap! <3
