Just One Thing.

It's hard to believe this month is only half way over. There has been a lot so far in 2019!

The check engine light came on in the SUV, and after having put more into repairing it last year than we did in purchasing it, we decided not to have it fixed. Or even checked. Because $150 for a diagnostic check (to be more specific than just having the codes read) is still more good money than we wanted to throw after bad.

We sold the SUV dirt cheap and bought a new vehicle. That we still don't have. The dealership managed not to tell us it needed a special-order taillight and a pair of tires before it could pass inspection; that is, until we were already at the dealership. I was unimpressed but we like the car, the price was right, and we needed something.

We could have brought it home, but I didn't relish the idea of taking Mal back down there to wait in the service center for two hours while they did the necessary repairs. Still, they'd told us it would be Tuesday. Tuesday, they told us it would be Friday. When I balked at that and pointed out that it would have been courteous to have informed us that it wasn't inspection-ready any of the many times we communicated before going in to test drive it, the salesman said he'd push them to have it ready today.

The taillight didn't even come in today. Now he's promising it by 1 PM tomorrow. Or a loaner. Just something. But it's WAY DOWN THERE in Austin, and I am not driving down two MORE times.

Just a note, people in the automotive business: THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE BUYING CARS.

When I was picking out the car, I selected a couple through Chase, and then the dealerships reached out to me. On Friday night, I told one guy we were looking at the car we ended up buying the next day. He asked what kind of car it was, and proceeded to tell me how terrible those cars were because they're so expensive to repair and that the least failure will total it out. I informed him we already have one and like it very much.

Then today, someone else called. I informed him that I'd already purchased a vehicle. And since we've already been through this, when he said, "Do you mind if I ask what model?" I said, "As a matter of fact, I do. Goodbye," and hung up on him.

***Two days later***

Re: The Loaner.

Yeah, the second taillight still did not come in, and ya girl lost it via text. I told him to cancel the contract, which he informed me had already funded so they couldn't. In hindsight, they probably knew it'd be a week before the parts came in, and only said "Tuesday" because that was the second business day after we applied for the loan, at which time the loan would go through and we wouldn't be able to reverse it without penalties. SLEAZY.

Due to my going off, he offered to send a porter to pick me up so I wouldn't have to pay a Lyft $30, which I was more than willing to do to pick up my very own permanent car. I ignored him while he sent multiple texts telling me to give him the "okay" because the porter was standing by. After I'd done some research, I asked him a couple of questions and said, "Please just answer those and don't send anyone."

After THAT, he offered to follow the porter over to our house and bring the car to me.

Well, why didn't you offer that in the first place, big guy?

Squeaky wheel and all, we have a Nissan Altima in the driveway that we might not need or use at all, but at least it's available and I won't have to pay $30 to drive down there whenever the car is finally ready.

OH! A kicker here: When he dropped off the car, the salesman said to me, "You know, between two tires and two taillights, they've spent almost $1000. They are barely making any profit off of this car."

SURPRISE! I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR PROFIT MARGINS!

All right. This was going to be a post about many things, but it's really long, so that's it for now. More stuff soon.