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Monday, August 09, 2004
2:40 PM

The Canadian Car Curse Continues

After last week's Ontario mix up, I had hoped that our car woes were behind us. Alas, it was not to be. And apparently it is all Canada's fault.

On Saturday, while Mark was driving the BMW, a chiming noise went off and an indicator light on the dash came on. It was a little red exclamation point, which can't be good. Generally something you look into. So we grabbed the owner's manual, which is roughly the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica. After muddling through it for a while, I find something that looks sort of like the indicator - something to do with a flat tire (I guess the car senses pressure levels in the tires and lets you know when one drops). So we go into the garage and stare at the tires. They look fine. We look some more. Still fine. Granted, it has low profile tires, but I would expect to see something if there was a flat. Nope. Nothing. Maybe we should have kicked them, but that seemed perhaps counter-productive if we had a flat.

At this point, after reading up on how to add washer fluid, what size the engine is, and how to operate the seat heaters, we realize the the manual just isn't helping (although we now know much more about the car than before). So we decide to call the dealer.

After several attempts to speak to someone in service, Mark finally reaches someone this morning. The problem is that you first have to speak to the service receptionist and explain your problem to her. Like she knows anything about the actual cars (I am supremely confident that she was hired for one reason and one reason only, ok, maybe two reasons, but I won't comment on them here). But this is the system we were given. So he explains to her what the problem is. And she grabs a copy of the manual. I kid you not. After flipping for a few minutes, she has the solution: "That indicator means that your car was made in Canada." Huh?? Double huh?? If only I had found that in the manual!

As I said before, there is no way she knows anything about cars (point proven), and yet we have to talk to her before actually making any progress. After all, it makes perfect sense to receive a sudden "warning", now that you have had a car for going on two years and 25,000 miles, that your car was made in Canada. That really is crucial information justifying not only a chime but a bright red exclamation mark which is constantly lit. Thank God it turned out we didn't have a real problem, or it would have been "So, flames are shooting out of the hood. Yah, that happens, Today is no good to bring the car in. How about never, does never work for you?"

At that point, Mark asked to be transferred to an actual service person. Luckily she agreed (maybe she realized just how ridiculous her suggestion sounded - probably not). But the service guy didn't know what the indicator meant either. So he put Mark on hold and asked a technician. Still no dice. Very confidence inspiring. But they agreed to look at it right away, which was a small form of progress given that the Canadian-hating receptionist said there were no appointments until Friday the 13th (obviously not a good option).

Turns out we had a nail in the tire and - surprise!! - as I surmised from the manual, it was a tire pressure issue.

So as of right now, while Lexus searches for our Canadian part, BMW is fixing the tire on our allegedly Canadian Z4. And we have no cars of our own.

The good news is that allegedly the part has been located and the Lexus will be ready today. If all goes well, we will be back up to a two car home this evening. But perhaps not if Canada keeps butting in.

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