Servicing

I took my car in yesterday to be serviced. It was time for its 75,000 mile servicing. This was one of the major servicings and it ended up costing $300. Ouch! Thanksfully, the only thing they found wrong with the car was its front brake pads needed to be replaced. Still, that tacked on $169 to the bill. I found out my rear brakes are all right for now but, they are getting worn to. I have no idea how long it'll be before I have to get the pads replaced on those.

I had the servicing done at the local Carmax. I was very pleased with the service rep I dealt with as well as the customer rep I had to pay my bill with. However, I was very displeased with one item at Carmax. Carmax has apparently changed its policy concerning its free shuttle service. They'll give you a ride to where ever from the dealership (as long as its within 5 miles) BUT they won't give you a ride back when its time to pick up your car. In my case, that would've meant calling a taxi to take me back to the dealership. That makes their shuttle completely useless and, it meant I had to stay at the dealership and wait while they worked on my car. I didn't care at all to sit in their waiting area for almost 3 hours. I was very glad I'd made an appointment for my car so I could get it right in. I hadn't, I would've had an even longer wait. Because of their shuttle service thing, I have mixed feelings about them. Still, I want to make sure my Camry continues to run fine so for now for major servicings and repair work, I'll continue to go to them.

On a different subject, I hope all my readers have a Happy New Year. I hope 2009 brings you the fulfillment of your dreams. Cheers all!

Kudos to Carmax

Last week, a light on my car dash started coming on. I looked in the owner's manual and found out it was a sensor that warns you have some kind of problem with the rear lights. The manual said it could be something so minor as a burned out light bulb. Not knowing squat about cars, I decided I had to take the car to the local Carmax Toyota dealership. I've found the people at Carmax to be consistently nice but had a bad experience with them over some warranty work. Because of that, I was a little leery about taking my car to them. Still, I wanted to get the light problem fixed and I felt they would know what to do. I turned out to be big time right.

I pulled the car into the dealership and walked to the customer service desk. The service rep whose name I can't remember now, asked me what was wrong with the car. I told him and gave him the spare set of keys. He walked out, turned the ignition and saw for himself the warning light that was coming on. I was able to see that it was the left rear brake light that was out. The service rep had another employee hit the brakes so he could verify that. Then, he opened the trunk and saw he'd need a screwdriver. He walked into his office and got one. He unscrewed the covering over the rear lights, pulled out the brake light and found that it was burned out. Then, he walked into the dealership and got a new lightbulb. He installed the bulb and checked the sensor. Sure enough, the problem was just a burned out lightbulb. I was delighted he'd solved the problem so quickly. I asked him how much it would cost to replace the bulb and he said "no charge." I was stunned. To the folks at the Laurel Carmax Toyota, many kudos for your great service today. I will definitely be using you in the future because of what your customer service rep did. This blog entry is also my way of saying thank you again.