I am going to use this blog altruistically to chronicle the adventure that acquiring a four wheel drive vehicle has turned into. As my dear readers know my last blog entry started a thread dealing with this issue and the colossal failure the acquisition of the Jeep turned out to be. While writing that entry, I realized that I didn't recall all of the details and that perhaps I could use this blog as a pseudo diary. If this story fails to entertain, let me apologize in advance.
Phase two of the four wheel drive acquisition started with the drive (after a full day of work) up to the dealership in New Braunfels. It's important to note that we both are currently working and time off is difficult to arrange. Add to that the round trip drive is nearly 200 miles. Missy returned the Jeep and picked up it's replacement, a 2010 F-250 Supercab with under 50K on the odometer. We signed a conditional release (I think that's what it was called) allowing us to test drive the vehicle and to make sure we really wanted it. The first thing that Missy noticed was that the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) and wrench light were lit up on the instrument panel. Also the panel and switch that controls the passenger side airbag was missing. As before, the dealership promised to correct everything before delivery. Several days have passed and the truck has exceeded our expectations. It is world's beyond the 2005 model we currently own. There seems to be an epidemic of folks these days that just don't take care of their vehicles. Back in the day my mother and father revered their cars and lavished attention on them. Not so much anymore. It was obvious this truck needed a little TLC, but it seemed promising. The next step was to return the truck to the dealership to allow them to correct the problems. That would mean both of us would miss work (and the pay!) and have to arrange for substitutes. A minor hiccup occurred the day before we were able to get everything together. While working the multi function switch (the stalk that controls the high beams and turn signals), Missy had it snap off at the steering column. A cursory inspection revealed that it had broken previously and someone had used super glue to repair it!?! It was apparent that we would be in for an adventure, because we needed to traverse several counties, the heart of San Antonio and cover almost 100 miles without turn signals. Plus we needed to make a stop along the way! Since we held out little to no hope that the dealer would put new tires on the truck we had our almost new tires (and wheels) swapped over from the old truck. As it turns out the tire store determined that the TPMS transmitters were missing from the wheels. Even though it is illegal, (like removing or circumventing pollution devices), people do remove them. We also took the liberty of swapping out our almost new batteries. Anyway, we eventually made it up to the dealership and dropped off the new (to us) truck. Now it remains to be seem whether they'll come through and return us a repaired vehicle. I truly believe I have been patient and that my expectations are not too unrealistic. The vehicle needs to be delivered with all of its systems working; simple as that, or I am not signing the bill of sale.
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