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I got my car back. It's sitting in the lot at the Fairfield Inn & Suites of West Des Moines, IA, my temporary home for these last EIGHT days. For those who are keeping track, NO I wasn't charged any more at BMW for the work they did on my car. YES, I think they goofed up this whole thing and possibly missed a leaky hose and replaced too many other things, then realized the mistake when it was too late. I say this because there is a part that they didn't charge me for and that was a hose that was added when they re-installed the second air intake mass meter.
This was also acknowledged by CHAD of Beckyley Automotive Service. Chad is fantastic. His shop is where I SHOULD have brought my car in the first place. They know the dealer shop run-around and pricing and I know they would have figured out the problems right up front. Chad looked at my repair invoices and thought they seemed a bit fishy, but it's too late to make a big stink, as it were. Let's just move on, shall we?
That said, I did what I could do with the info at hand. Thank you to Rich for guiding me to find an independent service person. It really gave me piece of mind to have a second opinion on the repairs and another set of eyes to look over the car and make sure it is road worthy again. Also, fwiw, between Beckley's guy's and my own, dear Gary of Newtown Car Care (who called me today to see how I was doing!), they agree that I need to restore the engine back to its' original state and remove the K&N air filter and go back to stock. The K&N is notorious for ruining air intake mass meters. Food for thought. Probably the reason why the car may have failed in the first place.
Chad and his staff were very impressed with the condition of the car, found nothing wrong, gave it a road test and blessed it as much as they could-considering once I put big miles on the car, that will really be the test.
Other than the fact that I slept about an hour last night and got food poisoning today, I'm doing OK. I just want to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed. I even miss my obnoxious cats. I don't miss my boring life and I have enjoyed meeting so many very nice, caring people. It was a big added bonus to see Shelby and Paul and Trevor again. It certainly took the edge off of feeling like I didn't really HAVE a vacation.
I'm sincerely sorry that I never got to Nevada. Even if I left tomorrow, there's blizzard and snow warnings very near west of here. It's too late in the season to pass through the Rockies. I'll point myself home this time and hope to make it out west one day when they invent Transporters or I find a good drug to get me through flying to Reno.
I'm really really sad and feel like a failure. I did my best. Time to pack up and hit the road for home.
President Robin!
Don't feel like a failure, Robin! Think of all that you have achieved in this voyage of discovery: that while you may harbor the DESIRE to cause bodily harm to BMW dealers, you have too much self-control to exercise it. :-) I kid. But seriously, please don't think of this as a failure: there are so very many people in the world who would never get the courage -- or even have the means -- to travel across the country like you did, especially in a car that has had problems. My in-laws can barely leave their hometown together, let alone travel by themselves across the country. Celebrate the successes! As for all that time in Iowa? Just pretend you were scouting out the state for a possible presidential run in 2012. :-) Take care, and I wish for you an uneventful and safe trip home!
Awwww
Sheryl,
You're such a dear! Thank you for the kind words. They mean a lot.
I discovered one big thing. I'm never really alone in this life. Even though I still feel the sharp pain of losing my family, it's a great comfort to realize that my friends have filled up all those gaps so I never need worry again that I'm without. It could and can be so much worse. It was just a big inconvenience and disappointment, but in the end I did reach my goal:
I was looking for my lost family and found they were there all along.
:-)
Please Slap Yourself for ME!
Robin! You know that I'd smack you if my arms were long enough!! What's this "failure" stuff all about? Look at all you endured regardless what was thrown at you the past week!! I'm just sad you didn't make it all the way to the left coast, but obviously you had no control over that... ;) I'm proud that you at least got out and made things happen.. and you'll be stronger for it because you took the chance! Now get back on the road and share some more incredible FOOD PORN already!! :D