Car Trouble Update
Unfortunately there’s not all that much to update on.
Before taking the car down to J.J.’s my girlfriend spoke to someone on the phone at the dealership who at one point apparently said “Well even 5% brakes are still working brakes” and reiterated that the warranty was for the drive train which does not include brakes. She made the counter point that we haven’t even had the car for 2 weeks so it was a little ridiculous to think it totally acceptable for the brakes to develop problems already. This little exchange, particularly the shady comment about 5% brakes still being brakes, did not inspire me with confidence – if they were already making these kinds of statements/arguments it looked like an uphill battle was before us.
We went to the dealership yesterday near closing time and the guy that sold us the car confirmed our thoughts that something is wrong with the forward right brake pad. He said to bring the car back the next morning, avoid driving as much as possible in the meantime, and they would take a look at it, fix it up, and “discuss cost at that time”. This was a little better than what we were hearing on the phone but still didn’t inspire me with confidence – it didn’t sound like they were helping us so much as selling us a service. Particularly when they said that it would cost no more than $70 to replace the brake pads, including parts and labour. The estimate was comforting as I was predicting well over at least $100 but at the same time it felt more like they were selling us something rather than fixing a problem they had at least shared responsibility regarding.
The car sounded horrible on the drive home. Each noise seemed like a harbinger of doom.
Jon came over for some Rock Band 2 last night and I described the problem to him. His theory is that there is some kind of dirt on the brake pad – this would explain why there’s been no loss in braking power. He suggested we find an empty stretch of road, get up to a serious speed and then slam on the brakes to get the dirt loose. I was very encouraged by his prognosis however I couldn’t ignore the fact that his advice was the exact opposite of what the alleged professional at the dealership said.
So I figured at that point it could go either way really.
This morning the car didn’t sound as bad, although that may have been wishful thinking on my part as it sure as hell didn’t sound good.
I had to work so my girlfriend took it to the shop, which won’t even be able to look at the car until late in the day, and contacted the dealership. This time they said they were 99% in agreement that they should at the very least share in any cost but they wanted to get the mechanic’s diagnosis before agreeing to anything specific.
So now we sit and wait.
And hope.
