Summer: Day 41
Today I took the car to one of those expedited oil change places.
Last year, about this time, I took my car to one of these places and 10 minutes before I started on a 3000 mile journey I realized they didn't replace the oil cap properly and the garage floor was covered in oil. Thankfully, I noticed before I was in the middle of Wyoming with a busted engine and no cell reception. However, I did get a late start on what should have been an 11 hour drive - turned 13 due to frequent oil checking because I was not confident that the oil expediters knew what they were doing. That was an unpleasant experience.
I decided not to use them again.... well until today.
Last night around 11pm I decided I was moving my trip to California up to today.
As I lay in bed, going over my schedule and determining the practicality of a literal last minute trip, my husband decided to be the voice of reason.
He gently reminded me that the van needed an oil change and a fill up, and I hadn't packed yet... I think he may have also been thinking of the fact that I needed to go to the grocery store if I was going to leave him for a week, but he didn't mention that. He very nicely explained that by the time I packed and got the oil changed it would be after noon and then I would be pushing it to make the drive in one day, resulting in a hotel stay and I wouldn't end up at my parents' until Thursday anyway.
Fine.
He's right.
But that means I have to go to an expedited oil change place!
Matt convinced me it would be fine.
So I went.
And sure enough they did what they do best...try to up-sell a thousand services that I would never consider having done at such an establishment.
I have laundry and packing to do, the waiting room is hot and smelly, and this guy starts in on "Toyota recommended services".
Dude. Look at my van. It screams when it starts, the power door is disabled because the motor broke, a few of the floor mats are missing (surprising how an entire floor mat can fall out of the van while on a road trip and nobody notice), some of the windows screech when they are rolled up/down, it has 170,000 miles on it, the back wiper is broken off, and there are so many coffee stains in the front seat I'm surprised the van doesn't smell of a coffee house. I don't really care if Toyota reccomends me draining every last fluid from this machine and giving it a transfusion of new and improved additive laden super juice. Just change the damn oil...and mark up a brake light 200% and change that too. Thanks.
I'm hoping that when I pull out of the garage tomorrow morning I don't have any surprises.
Last year, about this time, I took my car to one of these places and 10 minutes before I started on a 3000 mile journey I realized they didn't replace the oil cap properly and the garage floor was covered in oil. Thankfully, I noticed before I was in the middle of Wyoming with a busted engine and no cell reception. However, I did get a late start on what should have been an 11 hour drive - turned 13 due to frequent oil checking because I was not confident that the oil expediters knew what they were doing. That was an unpleasant experience.
I decided not to use them again.... well until today.
Last night around 11pm I decided I was moving my trip to California up to today.
As I lay in bed, going over my schedule and determining the practicality of a literal last minute trip, my husband decided to be the voice of reason.
He gently reminded me that the van needed an oil change and a fill up, and I hadn't packed yet... I think he may have also been thinking of the fact that I needed to go to the grocery store if I was going to leave him for a week, but he didn't mention that. He very nicely explained that by the time I packed and got the oil changed it would be after noon and then I would be pushing it to make the drive in one day, resulting in a hotel stay and I wouldn't end up at my parents' until Thursday anyway.
Fine.
He's right.
But that means I have to go to an expedited oil change place!
Matt convinced me it would be fine.
So I went.
And sure enough they did what they do best...try to up-sell a thousand services that I would never consider having done at such an establishment.
I have laundry and packing to do, the waiting room is hot and smelly, and this guy starts in on "Toyota recommended services".
Dude. Look at my van. It screams when it starts, the power door is disabled because the motor broke, a few of the floor mats are missing (surprising how an entire floor mat can fall out of the van while on a road trip and nobody notice), some of the windows screech when they are rolled up/down, it has 170,000 miles on it, the back wiper is broken off, and there are so many coffee stains in the front seat I'm surprised the van doesn't smell of a coffee house. I don't really care if Toyota reccomends me draining every last fluid from this machine and giving it a transfusion of new and improved additive laden super juice. Just change the damn oil...and mark up a brake light 200% and change that too. Thanks.
I'm hoping that when I pull out of the garage tomorrow morning I don't have any surprises.
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