A couple of weeks after I said “goodbye” to the most dependable car I ever owned, I drove to Charlotte to look at some SUV’s. They would be easier to get in and out of than my 2007 compact, and getting stuff into a hatch would be easier than onto a back seat. Four-wheel drive was an option I might consider.
At a dealership for such vehicles, Sue met me in the parking lot, where I told her what I thought I wanted.
She led me inside the showroom where two SUV’s sat.
I liked the one which had clean lines under glowing white paint, fancy rims, and leather upholstery. It was longer than my old car, and sat further off the road, with the hatchback I wanted, and 4-wheel drive.
When I got in and sat down, I thought the seats felt a little stiff, but reminded myself this was an all-terrain SUV.
Walking around the vehicle, I stopped to peruse the sticker.
“Whoa,” I said to myself “Sue, could you show me something, not quite so fancy?”
“Sure,” she said. “Let’s go outside and look.”
When we opened the hatch of a less-fancy one, the upholstery looked like shaved felt.
“I think you spoiled me,” I said.
Sue smiled. “We have several grades of upholstery, but the vehicles are virtually the same.”
“Would you like to see what the engines look like?” Sue continued.
“I really would like that,” I said.
“It has a box-engine,“ she said, as she opened the hood. “It works like two persons, boxing fist-to-fist.”
“Like a Porsche engine?” I asked.
She looked at me and smiled. “To tell the truth, I’m not really sure.”
I chuckled.
“I’m sorry,” she replied.
“Don’t feel that way,” I said. “I laughed in delight…”
“What do you mean?”
“You told me the truth.”
“How could you tell?”
“When you said you didn’t know how the box engine was set up, I knew you were a truthful person.”
“Oh.” She paused. “Since you trust me, would you like to go on a test drive now?”
I looked at the sky. “I don’t think so,” I replied, “It’ll be dark soon.”
“You don’t want to drive it?”
“I want to drive it, just not now.” I paused.
“I’m in no hurry to make a decision,” I continued. “But I will call you ahead of time, and I will drive this SUV. I promise.”
So we said “goodbye”, and I left.
A couple of days later Sue sent an email, wondering if I was really coming for a test drive.
“Real soon” I replied. “I’ll call ahead.”
Two days later, after three afternoon-meetings, I called ahead to tell Sue I was on my way.
“Sue’s with a customer right now,” the male voice said.
“Can you leave her a message?”
“Sure.”
“Tell her Leon Smith called. Should be there in about an hour.”
“I will tell her,” he said.
About ten miles into my journey, my stomach growled that we hadn’t had any lunch.
“I can’t go into that dealership hungry,” I said to himself. “I’d be so grouchy, I couldn’t even think about buying a car.”
So I scanned the roadsides for miles, hoping for a Taco Bell, and a bean burrito. By the time the dealership slid by on my right, I still had not found one. A few minutes later, the dealership slid by in the other direction.
By this time both I and my stomach had begun some serious griping.
Finally, I settled for Wendy’s Apple-Chicken salad, washed down with a Sprite. Then I high-tailed it to the dealership to hustle inside, with only a couple of minutes to spare.
“I called to tell Sue I was coming,” I said to a salesman with “Tom” written on his shirt. “We’re going on a test drive.”
“She’s with another customer,” Tom said. “They’ve just started to talk. Perhaps I can help you.”
“I promised Sue I would see her.”
“We swap-off all the time,” he said. “I’ll let her know, you asked for her.”
“For sure?” I asked
“For sure.”
He paused. “Was there a model you liked?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve decided to drive the one there, behind you.”
“I’ll find one in the lot and have it brought around.”
By the time Tom photocopied my insurance information and my drivers’ license, the SUV was waiting for us at the side door.
He put on a dealer tag, asked me to sit in the driver’s seat, showed me how to crank the car with the key fob still in my pocket. Then gave me directions for a fifteen-minute tour, and sent me on my way.
The SUV was bigger than my old car, a sat comfortably high, above the highway. There was plenty of room in the back to haul a bass guitar. And it had a hatchback to get groceries in easily, and four-wheel drive.
Soon I came to a traffic light, which turned red as I drove up. Sitting still, I listened for the engine, but I could not hear it.
“That’s no big deal,” I said. “I can’t half hear, anyway.” But when I glanced at the tachometer, I saw its needle had fallen to the pin.
“This piece of junk just died on me!” I yelled. “I’m out here in the middle of Charlotte in a borrowed car, and it’s gone dead as a hammer.”
In desperation, I pressed the accelerator and, to my surprise, the engine sputtered to life one second before the light turned green.
“Thank You, Lord,” I said, as I drove toward the next light, which also turned red; as I came to a halt, the engine died again.
“OK, you ornery thing,” I said, as I pumped the gas and made it cough. “Once I get you back, I’m done.”
After one more light and one more stall, I got rolling again, turned in to the dealership, and parked the vehicle where I had picked it up.
“How’d you like the SUV?” Tom asked, as he came out to meet me.
“It looks good, and rides smooth, but it scared me to death.”
“What happened?”
“It cut off on me at every traffic light.”
Tom smiled. “I assumed you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Lots of new cars shut down at traffic lights.”
“Why?”
“To conserve fuel.”
“Really?”
Tom nodded.
“Can you defeat that feature?”
“No one’s asked that before,” Tom said. “I’m not sure.”
“As I told Sue,” I said. “I’m not ready to make a decision.”
“Thank you so much for the test drive,” I continued. “I’m going to look at some other vehicles now.”
I said “goodbye,” then walked away, realizing that what I needed was a vehicle I could depend on. And this particular one, on this particular day, was not a vehicle I could trust.