Automobile karma? jinx? or just bad luck?

I think my Love My Ride post jinxed the health of my beloved automobile. She's had two recent bouts of extreme fever - the first episode occurred exactly a month ago, the second last weekend. After the second I knew I had to drop my wait and see attitude and have my girl checked out, so I made an appointment for her at our usual shop, WASP Automotive. I really love those guys. They provide top-notch, honest and trustworthy service at very reasonable prices. (Of course if you live closer to downtown Raleigh, I also adore Tao Auto, with which I trusted my CR-V exclusively before leaving NC for Michigan in 2000. Note: Both WASP and Tao specialize in Japanese makes).

At WASP, I'm pretty sure customers are left to the luck of the draw when it comes to the mechanic assigned on any certain day, so I was extremely pleased to be met by Kevin when I arrived, as he rescued my air conditioning a couple of years ago. He is thorough and extremely courteous, and that is a HUGE plus in my opinion, because women don't often get respect in these types of situations. But I suppose I should add that I've always been treated fabulously at WASP. For example, the very first time I took my car there it was for an inspection. I had not been in the waiting room for five minutes before Pete came in and said, "We've got a problem." Without too much back-story, I will try to explain why this statement sent me into panic mode.

Apparently the CR-V (or mine at least) has a bit of a faulty alarm system. I used to work at Michigan State University and parking was far enough away that one could not hear their car alarm sounding. Well, mine went off all the time. I'm sure there are people at MSU who noted my license plate and planned severe vandalism of my car, although I'm happy to report the old girl was never a victim of such. But with the lack of required inspections in MI, those of us with every intention of returning to a state requiring such inspections were often met with the news that repairs (and many) were in order. The fact that no one in Michigan cared that my horn - after extreme repetitive use - was no louder than the bleat of a baby goat quickly became a major issue.

Case in point, upon moving back to NC, the old gal was due for an inspection and she failed miserably. While most of her shortcomings were not all that disturbing, I must say that having to order a new horn was humiliating. You might not think so, but if you say it out loud, "Yes, hello, I need to order a new horn for my car," I promise you'll feel a bit weird. Having the Honda sales rep laugh at me - openly on the phone - did not help. She probably thought I was one of those obnoxious people who lay on the horn at anyone for the slightest reason, so therefore I deserved to suffer the cost of a new horn. By the way, I'm not at all like that.

My horn - original and current - has collectively been put to use a maximum of 35 times in 11 years. I'm one of those people who will let the person in front of me sit at a green light for 2 minutes before I'll honk. In my mind, everyone makes mistakes, so far be it from me to point out the mistake of the person in front of me on the road who may very well be perfect in every other aspect of his or her life. This is not for me to judge. (By the way, the aforementioned situation is one of the only ones in which I display any patience. Do not be fooled - I am NOT a patient person). I have entertained a tangent, pardon me.

Anyway, back my to explanation for loving the WASP guys. All Pete really wanted to tell me was that my registration had expired. Here enters the superior customer service aspect (especially since I was a first time customer). Pete drove me to the DMV, waited for me to renew my registration, then drove me back to the shop and inspected my car. He did all of that with a huge smile on his face and without hesitation. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that was fabulous!

I digress even further. Back to the original reason for this post. Kevin informed me that my baby CR-V had a cracked radiator and non-functioning fan and both had to be replaced. Boo hiss!!! Even so, the old gal was fixed up like new - oil change to boot - in about three hours, and that included delivery of the necessary parts. Thank you Kevin! CR-V has 137,864 miles under her hood (as of this post) and I expect her to travel 85,000 or more before she's done. My fingers and toes are crossed!