T-Shirt, Please
- Rumy Sen
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Of all the weird things to deal with, I didn’t think rainwater in my car was in the realm of possibility. Yes, you read that right: “in" as in inside my car.
We recently took my car to an auto shop we have used since 1998. We planned to pick it up the next day to give the shop flexibility to do the work. We have great trust in this shop and have never worried about the quality of their work.
Until this week.
The next morning, Tarun gave me a ride to pick up the car and then he rushed off to an appointment. I immediately noticed that the shop had left the front passenger window open. Unbelievably, we had nasty thunderstorms the night before and water was everywhere on that side of the car!
Center console, seat, door, speakers, floor mat, dashboard were all soaked.
I debated about going home and wiping it down or going back to the shop. I've wiped down the interior once before when I accidentally opened the sunroof while going through an automatic carwash. I know, spectacularly dumb! That mishap lasted a few seconds, said storm lasted more than an hour.
I didn’t go home because annoyance was the dominant emotion, especially after the trust we have placed in the shop. They wet-vacuumed the car quickly and apologetically.
As I drove away, a "safety system malfunction" message popped up on the dashboard. That prompted me to make a u-turn and bring the car back to the shop. My instinct said that electronic sensors were damaged in the rain.
I was right.
Long story short, I left the car in the shop for them to dry out the bottom of the seat where the malfunctioning airbag sensors are located. They alternately ran the heat and AC on full blast to dry the water and eliminate the humidity. It took hours to fix this mishap and the shop owner had to sit in the car the whole time because the car turns off if it senses nobody is in the driver’s seat. I felt bad for the man, but better him than me!
I am glad I didn’t ignore the warning message and that the airbags didn't deploy while I was driving. I am also grateful that the shop acknowledged the blunder and made things right.
In hindsight, several lessons were learned in this episode of “What Life Dishes”.
When you leave your car for service, pick it up as soon as they are done or sit there until they finish working on it. Be thankful for the invisible force that keeps us safe (and dry) in our cars. And definitely do not let your ride drive away.
To commemorate my dumb luck, if you find a t-shirt that says, “ Survived an oil change,” please send it my way!
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