oranges aren't the only fruit

They won't sell us a car! We've gone to the dealership, we've explained what we want and they won't sell us a car!

The car is buggered - that's the technical term. When it came back from the crash it was perfect - we had two weeks of incident free driving - the car ran wonderfully and all was right with the world. Then the stereo packed in, just stopped playing. Maria is a great believer in feng shui, she believes that inanimate objects conspire with each other to either provide a happy environment or an environment that is going to cause you problems. As far as the car is concerned she feels that if everything is working well, then everything works well! However, the minute one thing goes wrong (a scratch, an indicator bulb, the stereo) then all the other parts of the car decide to drop to the lowest common denominator.

The car decided to prove her right. After the stereo went the cat started to make a funny noise as it turned to the left. Then added a weird clicking noise as it turned to the right. The a horrible clunking noise whenever it went over a speed-bump/down a pot-hole. Finally one of the warning lights kicked on and the ABS system decided to kick in whenever it felt like it. I didn't say a word. I know Maria loves the car. And then she made the leap - we were going to sell the car and get a new one!

We discussed what we wanted, listed our needs and settled on certain facts. It has to be a VW - the safety factor is everything here in Tijuana. It has to be affordable in our present circumstances. It has to be a high [as high as we can get] performance vehicle (the joys of living with an engineer). It has to have a decent stereo (I am this shallow). We decided on a Golf or a Rabbit. With gritted teeth we set off to the dealership.

Maria (have I mentioned how much I love her) has set ideas and certain people she will talk to. She won't deal with most mechanics because they treat her like a girly and they she won't deal with certain salesmen because they treat her like a girly. We went to talk to Fernando. He wasn't there and so we got stuck with Armando. Armando was very nice, spoke very good English (and quite good French) and was a jolly nice bloke. He was such a nice bloke that he refused to talk about cars because he knew we wanted to talk to Fernando.

We went back the next day, knowing Fernando would be there. Fernando doesn't want to sell us a new car! The most popular car in Mexico is the Jetta - we have one. Not just any Jetta, we have a top of the range, ass-kicking, eat-my-dust, this-car-rocks Jetta. Fernando knows this because he sold it to Maria. He thinks we shouldn't sell it, especially for a Golf of a Rabbit. No-one in Mexico drives a Golf or a Rabbit, the salesman can't get his hands on one because they have discontinued production and Fernando doesn't know if the 2008 version will be available here.

We set off to leave the dealership, slightly confused and Armando stops us. He tells me that he has been thinking about our problem. We look at him for enlightenment - maybe he'll sell us a car!

You need to buy oranges. Two, maybe three. Put them on the stove, over an open flame. Cook them until they go black. Cut them in half and then eat the orange that is inside. The white stuff that surrounds the orange is a natural antibiotic. Heating them, burning them, with send all that goodness into the orange. It tastes like honey and the whole house will smell clean. Try it.

We look at him, puzzled.

I noticed yesterday you had a cold. I can't help you with selling the car, buying another, but I thought I would help you with your cold!

So, we still have the car but I have a bag of oranges!

Comments

[Blue Witch]

Now, if that was England, I'd say go back to the insurance company and say you're not happy with the post-accident repair work as you're having x, y and z problems (although I doubt the stereo will be covered!!!). However, it being Mexico...

I do agree with Maria about once something goes wrong on a car it is highly supect thereafter though. I can never quite trust it again.

[(S)wine, Inc.]

i have an '05 jetta.
fantastic machine.
golfs and bunnies are good too.
cheers to two old friends.