Sour.

“You better get it fixed because you’re not parking that leaky thing in my garage.” I want to be able to park in the garage. My car needs to stop leaking…it hasn’t. I have a lemon.

From day one, my car has given me trouble. This past July, I bought my Escape at the Ford Store in San Leandro from my dad’s friend, who was able to get me a pretty good deal (or so I thought). I don’t like to spend my money on big things and tend to be more of a saver than a spender, so buying this car was really, really hard for me. But, the little beetle was getting up there in miles and with as many trips to desert as I knew I’d be taking, as well as working all over the Bay, I figured it was a worthwhile investment. I slowly wrote the check, swallowed, looked the other direction and handed a big chunk of my savings to him. My mom reminded me to breath. Driving my new car home that night was awesome. I LOVED IT. My buyer’s remorse rapidly faded and couldn’t wait to bring my car back into the shop for them to fix a minor scratch on the dash, caused by a sticker being pulled off too quickly… my new purchase would then be perfect, right?

WRONG! Before I brought my car back, I noticed a little leak under my car. Okay, so no big deal, they can fix the leak while repairing the dash. One. I dropped off my sky blue rental car and picked up my new one again. Happily, I finished off my work day and drove around to show off my purchase to anyone willing to entertain my excitement. “Kim, is your car still leaking?” I took my car to Livermore Ford to fix the leak…again. Two. A week passed and I got my new car back again. “Your car left a spot on the driveway”. Three…Four…Five times. I am beyond sick of rental cars (I even got a speeding ticket in a Taurus) and tired of hearing that they will do “a really thorough job” this time. Yesterday my dad came with me to take my car in. Six.

Side note: The service manager actually looked up from his desk, greeted us with a smile and walked us through the Lemon Law procedure. The difference in customer service between when I’m there alone and when my dad is with me is hard to believe and I could go on a LONG tangent about the audacity of this man, but I don’t think it would be beneficial to you or to my sanity. I’ll refrain.

The lemon law was basically designed for cars like mine…cars that no matter what you do, they can’t be fixed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my car does fit the criteria (I don’t see how it couldn’t) and that in about six months I will get to, again, show off my purchase to anyone who’ll entertain my excitement. I think you should cross your fingers too. :)