Monday, March 05, 2012

fun recall

no no not a memory recall (but that can be fun too) 

I’m talking about our car being recalled. 

I wasn’t too excited getting this notice. Who is? As I often do, I procrastinated. I finally called the local Toyota dealership and was I surprised by getting a very precise appointment, 11:15. I’m use to a “bring it in the morning or afternoon” type of time precision. I asked about getting a ride home. They came back with a much better idea. I was getting a loaner. 

Our recalled Toyota is over 6 years old so driving around in new car for free was appealing. Now I was motivated to have the car serviced. 

I arrived at their recently rebuild mega car store and was impressed by very efficient processing.  In a matter of 10-15 minutes they pulled-up a new Camry for me to drive.

But not more than a half of mile down the road I had a problem. My ass was burning.

“Officer I couldn’t slow down. My ass is on fire and I don’t know how to turn it off.”

had the seats been marked like this, I would have known

Now that would be a very creative excuse but probably would backfire so I pulled into a parking lot and searched for the heated seat control. I found it and as I cooled, I explored the dashboard controls in the safety of a parking spot. I found this baby was loaded with:
  • Bluetooth handsfree phone calling 
  • GPS 
  • Backup camera 
  • hot/cold ass control 
  • BSM (figured out what it was later) 
  • Satellite radio 
  • sunroof (converts to a moon roof at night)

Cruising the highways with free satellite comedy channels is not bad. Later, I checked out the hands free phone by calling my sister. 

We did some comparisons with her new ride bought this year.  It turned out to a most fortunate timely call for me. You need a little background to appreciate the embarrassment she prevented. Some would call it OCD, but I like to consider it an intense method to avoid repeating forgetful incidents I have had in the past. For example, forgetting to lock a door. 

An unfamiliar new feature of this XLE model was it’s keyless system. No key turning required to start. Just push the start button with gear shift in park and foot on the brake. Oh, you do need the key fob inside the car but you could leave it in your pocket. 

My sister explained that she was spoiled by her car’s system because she didn’t need to dig for her keys when returning to her parked car. She just gets near the door and pushes a button on the door to unlock. She asked me to check if my loaner ride did the same. So I stepped outside to check. I locked door, shut it and lifted the handle. It opened. Puzzled I repeated the steps with the same result. After the second time, I tried the back door. It stayed locked. 

I started to laugh. Still on the phone, I told her it was a good thing we had this discussion because of my checking a locked door habit. Anytime I park and lock my car, I always check the door by lifting the handle. It reassures me that I locked the door. On my loaner ride this would have resulted in an embarrassing scene. Picture a man standing next to a park car repeatedly locking, shutting, opening his door. I might have been there for hours.

(proofreading provided by C. F. Eyecare)

12 comments:

unknownmami said...

I would have been there for hours too. I always check to see if I locked the door. Sometimes I even walk back after having walked away to check. My husband will drive me crazy when we are sitting in the living room by saying, "I wonder if you locked the car door."

St Jude said...

i'm another door checker, in the neighbourhood I work in you have to check. I'm not entirely sure I like this new technology, I get awfully confused by all it and very distracted, not good when you already have the attention span of a gnat.

Bearmancartoons said...

I hate those butt warmers but my wife loves them.

lisleman said...

 What does this say about the two of you?  I'm not saying but I have a few thoughts.  thanks

lisleman said...

 Adjusting to changes is always tough.  Distractions can be good or bad but those gnats, they are annoying.

lisleman said...

 LOL - that's mean of him (but it would be fun to watch).  Maybe you should lock him out sometimes.

Frau said...

too funny I think I saw your twin at Target yesterday! 

Tami Miller said...

Nothing like being in the hot seat.

lisleman said...

 yes - it certainly is an option I could go without.

lisleman said...

 Do you mean looks or actions?   I assume actions.  So what was he stuck doing?  checking his locked door?

Barbara said...

That cracked me up, picturing you standing there locking, checking, locking, checking... I do miss my satellite radio and those comedy channels, though. I was able to relive the first time I heard Steve Martin one afternoon. Not worth the extra expense, though, once the freebie ran out.

lisleman said...

 I agree that the monthly expense would not be worth it.  So often people don't think about how recurring charges add up.  thanks

Featured Post

Feedback can be amazing