We brought our new car last night. After filling up with petrol we hit the road for the hour and a half drive home (this is in rush-hour traffic, so it was longer too!)
After a while the car (ok it’s a 4wd, but really? To me it’s a car) started heating up. Peter had been told previously that the Toyota Surfs do run kind of hot. It kept getting hotter and hotter and eventually it was so hot it was of the gauge! I thought something was up but not being able to drive a manual, or ever driving in that kind of car I kept my mouth shut.
When we were on the highway something exploded and crap came out all over the car. We pulled off, and luckily we managed to pull into an emergency bay. After popping the hood, we (ok… Peter) figure out that the radiator pipe has burst off and all that crap was the radiator fluid.
At this point I feel kind of bad. It was running hot when I decided to check that this car actually had air conditioning (our Honda doesn’t) at this point the engine started labouring and making pretty bad noises. I think I pushed the poor thing over the edge! – for the records, air con works great.
**Not to long ago we had an issue with our car crapping out, so I have joined RACQ which is a roadside assist. As it was so cheap (being under 20 had some perks) I upgraded to the more expensive option.**
So I call RACQ and tell them the issue. “I have membership, but we are just driving our new car home and it has broken down.” What doe they tell me? “Cant help. Sorry. You need to join up the new car and then we can get roadside assist out”
So I join up the new car, and $98 later we finally talk to the tow guys. They can only get us off the motorway we found out, then we needed to get another tow truck to tow us to wherever we needed to go. At this point I call the dealership and let the guy know what has happened.
He is furious that it has broken down (meaning the auto check wasn’t obviously done properly by the mechanic) and instantly calls his boss to get the car fixed. At this stage it is now about 8pm.
We ended up having to tow the truck back to where we got it, and they are going to fix it there. This was another $70 for the tow (which we are going to be reimbursed) and a LOT of waiting around.
When we finally got back to the dealership, we are met by the salesman who has come from home to help us. He gives us another car to get us back home, and boy is it lovely! It’s a 2006 Ford Fairmont Ghis (or it could be Ghia) and man does it go smooth on the open road. I LOVE it so much and want to keep it for ever and ever!
So I love the flash car we are borrowing, but it comes with a hefty price tag. So unfortunately when our car is fixed I will have to give it back. He was going to give us a Dodge Magnum (I know!) but I couldn’t be bothered waiting around for him to open the dealership and get the car out, when this car was already waiting.
We finally got home just before 11, and poor Peter had to get up at 11pm to go to work! He had no sleep at all, so he was buggered.
After all this I really expected to get angry. But in all honesty I’m not. I have become used to the fact that the customer service in Brisbane is sub-standard, but this was exceptional. Especially for a car salesman! He was apologetic, annoyed that someone hadn’t done their job properly (Mechanic) and was really eager to put the problem right. He gave us a stunner of a loan car, and he has already called me today to give me an update of what has been happening.
So we started out with this:
(our actual car. Yes that's me looking in the boot)
And for the next week or less we will have something like this:
Puts our little Honda to shame!
1 comments:
I guess it turned out alright in the end! But that really sucks!
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