51,858 mile service

chrysler's website is broken and you can't see the coupons they advertise (you can click here and then click on the "3 great services for 1 low price" ad to see what i mean).  i hit the 51k mark in las vegas, but figured i'd come back and try to cobble together an oil change in the bay area.

fortunately, michael stead chrysler in walnut creek had an ad on their website for a $30 oil change, so i drove the hour up there to get things done.

the staff was courteous but pushy in that weird service way.  "this is a turbo, sir, you should get your oil changed every 3,000 miles and it's been 4,000 since you had the last one done."

well, actually there are two service conditions for the turbo engine in a cruiser -- 5,000 and 3,000 -- and i could have it changed at 5,000.  in fact, i volunteer to get it done at 3,000 so i won't have chowder heads like you telling me what is in-and-out of warranty.  i don't tell him that, of course.

"that's why i'm here."

he suggests my tires are wearing thin, asks if i want a quote ("sure") and sends me to the waiting room to wait for hertz to get me a rental car.

i can see him working on his computer as i talk to an older fellow in the waiting room about the merchant marines ... it looks to me that he's reading something about me on his screen ... it's a body language thing ... and yeah, you could say i'm just making stuff up, but remember, i've written poker books and made a lot of money on the tables ... i'm not completely unfounded, and he sees something ... i can tell.

he comes back to the waiting room.  "i was looking at your account and see you live in santa clara.  that's a haul from here ... if you'd like, i'll put you next in line -- i have another technician getting done in about 15 minutes -- and we can wait here and then go."

"sure, that'd be great."

okay.  so he already knew i was in santa clara.  i told him that when i handed him the car and they made the work order.  so, unless it just took awhile for that to sink in, that's probably not the real reason.  if i had to guess, and this is a guess that could only be categorized as "wild-ass," i'm guessing there's either a mention of my letter to sergio marchionne in my official record, or he was somehow directed to this 'blog and was reading it.

in any event, the tire quote got lost in the shuffle (which is fine).  out in an hour, no problems found anywhere on the car again.

$30

new wipers on

i was given an extra pair of wipers (as a coupon spiff) several oil changes ago and i put them on the continual car today.  noting it only for future reference.

47,958 mile service

using a coupon off the chrysler website i went to stevens creek chrysler and had an oil change and tire rotation.

nothing to report, aside from the fact that their inspection showed, once again, nothing wrong with my car.

$21

... and now it's for reals

crossed over an important, but otherwise unnoticed milestone today.  driving back late down 101 i crossed 48,000 miles on the continual car.  this is the point where i would no longer have been able to buy a lifetime warranty wrap ... if i had waited until yesterday to buy it, i would have paid $336 more and would not have been given $376 worth of rental cars while the cruiser was in the shop.

i'm still happy with my purchase of the maximum care wrap and am glad that the car made it this far for the warranty to come into play ... if it'd be totaled by now, i'd simply be out the $1542 i'd paid for the policy, with essentially nothing to show for it.

now one of two things has to happen for me to be happy.  either:

* i never have a problem with the car (in which case both chrysler and i are joyous)

= or =

* when i do have a claim, it actually gets paid off by chrysler

time will tell.  oh yes.

quote of the moment

"the most common turbocharger failure is bearing failure related to
repeated hot shutdowns with in adequate 'cool down' periods. a sudden
engine shut down after prolonged operation will result in the transfer
of heat from the turbine section of the turbocharger to the bearing
housing. this causes the oil to overheat and break down, which causes
bearing and shaft damage the next time the vehicle is started."

-- 2008 PT cruiser service manual, volume 3, page 11-23

quote of the moment

"increasing the turbocharger boost WILL NOT increase engine power."

-- 2008 PT cruiser service manual, volume 3, page 11-22

ta da

six hours after the post office showed my letter being delivered to chrysler, i got a phone call from a detroit area code ... it is, in fact, a rep. calling from the CEO's office ... this in itself is interesting, not only because the response is so fast, but also because i never put a phone number on my letter -- it means that they've gone through their owners' logs and pulled it out.

the conversation is long, winding and strange (as conversations with me tend to be on the phone -- the robot has suggested that i start publishing all my phone conversations), but i can summarize it succinctly: if i follow what's in the owner's manual, i'm covered for warranty's sake.

some interesting pieces of side trivia:

* chrysler has a record of all my visits to all my dealerships, but they do not have a record of what the results of individual inspections are.

* my chrysler rep. also has a max care service contract on her jeep (and she hasn't read her owner's manual).

* i now have a name and a direct line into chrysler.

i was traveling at the time and forgot to ask for a quick note in the mail stating the same, just for my record purposes, but i will.

we also had a brief conversation about chapman that i will not repeat here, but i will say i am satisfied.

i consider this an early xmas present from chrysler, and given the current circumstance, could not be happier.

(19184486)