Thursday, January 06, 2005
Unexpected but I'm not complaining
The "Service Engine Soon" light came on as I was driving home Tuesday night in my '99 
Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, so I made an appointment for this morning at my local GM dealer to have it checked out. The light stayed on through my commute to and from work yesterday, but was mysteriously dark this morning (and was lit during the normal systems check upon starting the car, so I know the lightbulb is not out). Not knowing what to think, I kept the appointment and dropped the car off this morning. Apparently this can be caused by any number of problems from trivial to major, though there has been absolutely no sign of trouble--the car sounds normal, runs fine, isn't leaking anything, etc. They didn't have (or weren't offering) a free loaner, but did have an Enterprise rental desk in the showroom. I asked for a basic car to get me to and from work while mine is at the shop, and the car rental guy asked me, "As long as you pay the economy price, do you mind what you get?"
I parsed that sentence and didn't see any danger, so I answered in the affirmative. What I got was a
Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT. "And this is for the economy rate, right?" I asked, oh-so-casually.
"Yep."
"Okay then."
Wow. I haven't enjoyed driving a car quite this much since I bought the Grand Prix itself six years ago. The weather today precluded lowering the top (and I'm not much for the windblown hair look anyway) but it hardly mattered. And I spotted the CHP car near SFO before he spotted me, so I was lucky there too.
I always wanted a 4-door for passenger and cargo capacity, but now that Jen has her Subaru Forester 2.5XS (4-door, tons of cargo space) I'm thinking something a little sportier might be nice. I don't know that I'd go for the Eclipse itself--I'd really prefer an American-made car--but it is causing me to look in a different direction for my next car.
Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, so I made an appointment for this morning at my local GM dealer to have it checked out. The light stayed on through my commute to and from work yesterday, but was mysteriously dark this morning (and was lit during the normal systems check upon starting the car, so I know the lightbulb is not out). Not knowing what to think, I kept the appointment and dropped the car off this morning. Apparently this can be caused by any number of problems from trivial to major, though there has been absolutely no sign of trouble--the car sounds normal, runs fine, isn't leaking anything, etc. They didn't have (or weren't offering) a free loaner, but did have an Enterprise rental desk in the showroom. I asked for a basic car to get me to and from work while mine is at the shop, and the car rental guy asked me, "As long as you pay the economy price, do you mind what you get?"
I parsed that sentence and didn't see any danger, so I answered in the affirmative. What I got was a
Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT. "And this is for the economy rate, right?" I asked, oh-so-casually.
"Yep."
"Okay then."
Wow. I haven't enjoyed driving a car quite this much since I bought the Grand Prix itself six years ago. The weather today precluded lowering the top (and I'm not much for the windblown hair look anyway) but it hardly mattered. And I spotted the CHP car near SFO before he spotted me, so I was lucky there too.
I always wanted a 4-door for passenger and cargo capacity, but now that Jen has her Subaru Forester 2.5XS (4-door, tons of cargo space) I'm thinking something a little sportier might be nice. I don't know that I'd go for the Eclipse itself--I'd really prefer an American-made car--but it is causing me to look in a different direction for my next car.
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