44, 911 mile service

down at my brother's place in salinas for T-day, which means it's time for, that's right, yet another chrysler dealer to change my oil.

this time i've got the coupon i couldn't get hold of last time and head on over to my jeep chrysler dodge.

from the get-go they're super-responsive and friendly, so i figure i'll try a gambit.

"hey, i've got a coupon here that's good for wiper blades and an oil change for 20 bucks ... how about i trade you?  you keep the wipers and give me a tire rotation instead for the same price?"  i figure it's a good deal for them because it's just a bit of extra labor, but not hard durable goods going out the door.

"sure!"

they set an afternoon appointment with me (car dealerships almost always want you in in the morning) and took the continual car immediately on arrival.  i went a couple blocks away for a late pancake lunch and they finished it well before i was done with my tasty meal.

now, in theory, they did an inspection here too and found ... nothing wrong ... once again making chapman look suspicious.

my jeep chrysler dodge is a great dealer ... and once again ... the non-5-star dealer is better than the ones that do have stars.  i don't get it.

$24

(this service was supposed to include an air filter, but i did it myself.)

trivium of the moment

poking around on the NTSA web site today i found that the total number of 2008 PT cruiser convertibles manufactured was 1858.

42,122 mile service

back in vegas again, so i headed over to chapman.  the chrysler website has a coupon for oil change and wipers for $20, but i forgot to print it out before i left CA ... and as punishment, god crashed the chrysler website.

had to settle for a chapman coupon for a $20 oil change (no wipers).  they had another coupon that included a tire rotation for $30, but the service guy reminded me that i'd rotated 'em last time and fairly emphatically suggested that i not do it now ... so i didn't.

they also did an inspection and, once again, show contaminated power steering fluid, automatic transmission fluid and a "dirty" throttle body.  or to put it in terms warren buffett would understand, $780.

come on, man ... is it really that bad?  it feels like they're grasping to me.

$21