December 11, 2012

Desert Sky

 

When I woke up this morning I had that first tell-tale sign I was getting sick when I swallowed and felt the lump in my throat.  I really didn’t want to get out of bed but we had an appointment at the Mitsubishi dealer to get the brakes on my car looked at because they were grinding.    I brought along a book and Monte his tablet to help pass the time.  Since buying the car in 2004 I have always brought it to the dealer where we lived in Florida for service.  I was a little leery going to the dealer in Mesa because of some of the horror stories I have heard about being taking advantage of when getting service away from home.  BUT I was pleasantly surprised when the service tech gave me a rundown of items that should be addressed but did not give me the hard sell.  He said I could wait on the brakes. 

I have had a “Service Engine Soon” light on for a couple of months.  When we were in California we went into an AutoZone to inquire about getting the code read but they wanted to charge a fee so we didn’t have it done.  Last week, Monte went into an O’Reilly’s where they read the code with no fee and gave us a printout of the possible reasons the light was coming on.  It was an oxygen sensor.  While we were at the dealer, they also ran the code and gave us an estimate of over $300 to replace the sensor.   We decided against having the dealer replace the sensor. 

Also on the list of things that needed to be addressed was the burned out license plate light bulb and cracks in the motor mounts.  I am also going to need new front tires.  I had already been informed I needed new tires when I took my car to Walmart for an oil change the prior week. 

We authorized the brake work and were given a ride to a nearby mall so we could have lunch and walk around rather than wait in the dealers lounge.  The mall was two stories and had a large food court.  We were offered a sample of chicken teriyaki as we were passing the Japanese booth.  It was delicious so that is what we ordered.

After lunch we walked around Sears and a few of the other stores but didn’t come across anything we couldn’t live without.  Shopping is a different experience for us now because of the limited space we have in our rig.  If we don’t NEED it we don’t buy it.

Since the dealer was relatively close and we were very full we decided to walk back.  Our timing was great because the car was ready when we returned to the dealer.  On the way home we stopped at AutoZone where Monte bought and replaced the burned out license plate bulb for $4.99, a saving of over $20.00 from what the dealer wanted to charge.  We also purchased the oxygen sensor for less than $70 that Monte installed in less than an hour after we returned home. 

We will buy new tires before leaving the area at the end of January.  According to the dealer, the last remaining item on the list, the cracks in the motor mounts can be addressed at a later time.

By the time we returned home at 3pm I was feeling worse.  Not only did it hurt my throat when I swallowed but I could also feel pain in my right ear.  We normally get our flu shots in the beginning of October but were remiss this year and had planned on getting it done after leaving the dealer.  But now I will have to put off getting the shot until after I recover from this illness.