I'm sitting in the Chrysler/Dodge dealer's again. You might be fooled into thinking I've taken on a new hobby, but no- I've just switched to owning a domestic piece of crap.
Today I'm here, with a familiar hose providing another burst of spite in my face. All summer long, there have been intermittent issues with starting the truck. The dealer I bought it from assured me it was a quirk of the security system. We found ourselves trying to divine the meaning of the clicks, blinking security light, and a mythical time-out function. We would turn the key, hear the click, and think- "Oops, I guess we did something in the wrong order- the system's confused." Usually waiting for 30 seconds to a minute to five minutes would solve the problem, with many tries in between. We thought we were appeasing the engine immobilizer gods.
But then, things got a little more regular. While I was last in at the dealers for my oil-change, I said, "please check the starter- I'm having problems starting." The dealer assured me it was just the security system. "Oh, ok," I said, relieved not to have to spend yet more on this infernal machine.
Within a week we were getting stranded for upwards of 10 minutes at a time, trying over and over to coax the truck to life. Last night, it just flat-out wouldn't start. My domestic car vitriol spilled helplessly out, despite the fact that Mabel was right there and could hear me.
A hammer to the starter (actually an axe- we didn't pack a hammer...) got it going this morning, and I drove straight to the dealer's. I am getting a rebuilt starter from NAPA in about an hour... It will cost about $625 all-in.
A cynical person would think that my $1400 after-market warranty would cover this. Oh wait! No- that would be the hopelessly naive person- I'm the cynical one, and I'm positive that warranty's as worthless as a quality check from Detriot.
Grrr.
