HEMIWagon Project Log: Make My Day Edition

"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst)
12/17/2014 at 12:24 • Filed to: HEMIWagon

So my very good friend Mo just gave me a call. I was a little concerned at first, thinking maybe the SL was eating parts alive, but no, it was better than that.

My replacement motor is being delivered tomorrow morning.

I needed to let that sink in for a second, because the tracking number was not particularly helpful, it didn't give me updates or anything else, and I was getting concerned. I have a job interview that I'm playing musical cars to get to and from, and it's very difficult. Luckily my patient girlfriend knows how much this job will benefit both of us, and is happy to drive me back and forth. It is also very helpful that the company is being flexible knowing that I'm without a car, but doing my best to come in when they want to interview.

Mo, you made my day.

I told him if it's something later in the evening in the weekend, or whatever, just call me and I'll get it out of their way because I need my car. Good thing I have a great shop and they're hands down the best shop I've ever dealt with.

HEMI-WAGON for your afternoon inspiration.

It feels real good already. Huge weight lifted off my shoulders considering the past 3 weeks have been a goddamn nightmare.

DISCUSSION (5)

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > JGrabowMSt
12/17/2014 at 12:38

Can you link to a backstory, or at least a cliff notes version? I must have missed your other posts.

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > JGrabowMSt
12/17/2014 at 12:44

Yay!!!

JGrabowMSt > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
12/17/2014 at 12:57

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/tag/hemi-wagon

Tags are our friends!

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > JGrabowMSt
12/17/2014 at 13:25

Ah thanks. After reading some of this, I will echo your statements about AAA when the engine blew. I once waited 3.5 hours for a AAA tow truck. I was in an accident and wanted the vehicle towed to my shop instead of something local, so I told the cop that I was calling AAA. So I waited. And Waited. And waited some more. Another time a guy I worked with called for a lockout at 5:30pm. They showed up at 11. Good thing he was at work with me till midnight.

I ran into the same thing with stupid ass private tow contracts on the Turnpike before. Pissed me off I had to pay the damn tolls for my car the whole length I was on the Turnpike.

JGrabowMSt > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
12/17/2014 at 13:37

I got lucky with no tolls. The tow drivers I've gotten for any reason have all been really nice guys. I only had to pay for a single tow because the cops wouldn't let me do anything myself because it would have caused them to wait longer. What a shit show that ended up being.

I had a recent engine problem in my SL, and I had a great tow driver off the NY Thruway. The state trooper that called it in was very nice about it, and the tow driver asked me about my AAA coverage and everything because he didn't have it himself, but did AAA calls often. Money for them, and I was in good hands. That's all that matters.

Most of my wait times previously were 45 minutes to an hour, so the experience with this was not out of the ordinary for me, but I've heard of plenty of AAA calls that were horrible. I live in an area that's surrounded by major highways (287, 80, 15, 46 and 202) so there's a huge number of AAA certified shops that don't have any excuse to take too long to get there. The same can't always be said. Aaron Brown had one long ass wait when his 944 was flogged into a ditch, and it was expensive to boot.

I have respect for tow drivers and their jobs, I try to be as helpful as possible and leave a good impression with them, because I hope they return the favor by being nice to me. Some tow drivers are very stubborn, but I don't want to argue with them, I want to make sure they know I appreciate the work they're doing and I just want to get things picked up and be on my way. I didn't plan to have a problem, and it's not their fault, so it's very important to keep your cool with them. When they really screw up, just call AAA and complain about the service time. Sometimes there's a reason, sometimes there's not, but AAA can either credit your account or do something to keep your business, and go after that tow place themselves. It just isn't worth all the stress.