Car Care

... a must-do thing

In September 2003 I wrote an article about having my car serviced.
Although I had been to the service area since then I am now updating my
recent experience.

It was 7 am when I drove through the automatic opening garage doors
and was greeted by a smiling attendant. She told me the 35,000-mile
service would take about an hour and she gave me a voucher to get coffee
in the waiting area.

There was no longer a counter with a coffeepot, sugar, milk, etc.
There is now a coffee shop. This consists of a real person behind a
counter that displayed muffins, bagels, and assorted pastries. The
coffee was regular, razz, latte, or chia. The young lady explained that
the food service area is open from 6am till 2pm. You could buy a bacon,
egg and cheese wrap for $4.75. They had other breakfast wraps for $4.25
and an array of lunch sandwiches ranging from your regular hot dog with
all the fixings for only $1.85 to a tuna salad for $5.75. Soups, juices,
smoothies and sodas are available also.

This is inside the automobile waiting area, which now has plasma TV
on the wall complete with subtitles for the hard of hearing. There are
26 soft plush leather armchairs facing the TV. Four small tables have
comfortable chairs surrounding them also. Free newspapers are available
for those customers that choose not to watch "Good Morning America".

The parts department is still in the corner, but the pictures that
had been on the walls have been removed. Instead there are numerous
vehicle service surveys extolling the excellence of the department.

On the other side of the showroom there is a kidzplace with free
games, videos and bouncing toys. Here, parents can relax while they sip
their free coffee, read their free newspaper and still keep an eye on
the kids.

At this point I must tell you that the service department has found a
problem with my rear brake linings. Back to my book, which I always
bring, and I continue to read and people watch.

At one table there is a woman concentrating on her knitting. Two men
share another table with their lap top computers back to back.The men
are talking about blogs, spam, Google and heaven knows what else.

It is now 9:15 am and I have been called to pay my bill. This trip I
will need to add $313.73 to my credit card. Is this a reasonable price
to be able to watch the plasma TV, have a cup of coffee and read the
paper? Fair or not, this is now one of the necessary parts of our lives,
as are the blogs, the spam and Google. So relax, sip, and watch the TV.
If you don't have a plasma TV in your home, you can always go to have
your car serviced.

Previously written

May 6, 2005