Cat Litter and a New Car

Andrea asked me to drive to Queretaro with her, to pick up some things for her clients. I didn’t really need anything from Queretaro so I called Rod and asked if he needed anything. Cat litter from Costco. So off we went.

I left Costco with only the cat litter and a new DVD. My cheapest trip to Queretaro ever.

Andrea and I climbed into the Pathfinder and I turned the key. It wouldn’t start. This has happened before. All the dash lights turn on but not the engine. Nothing. Not a sound. And then, after a number of tries, it starts and doesn’t have a problem again for months. I’ve talked with the folks at the repair shop and they say that they cannot diagnose the problem except when it is happening. “What if I’m stuck out at some ranch?” I asked. “Call us, we’ll come.” (Yeah, but what if I don’t have cell phone coverage?) Whatever. I’m pretty sure it is a problem with the ignition and I should probably just have it changed as a pre-emptive strike.

As before, after a number of tries, it starts as if there is no problem. I turned to Andrea. “We leaving Friday for Mexico City and then on to New York. I can’t take this car. What if it craps out on me someplace on the road, we get stuck and miss our flight? It will screw up our whole Christmas.”

“Let’s go buy a new car!” Andrea said.

“I thought you had to buy fabric.”

“I can come back later this week and do it. Let’s buy a new car. You worked hard for your money. You deserve it. When was the last time you bought a brand new car?”

“17 years ago.”

“There, you see? It is not like you’ve been extravagant. Yea! It’s time for a new car! Call Paola. She has a Nissan X-Trail. That’s the car you want, right? She’ll know where the dealer is in Queretaro.”

(I’ve found that Andrea is very good at helping other people spend their money.)

Paola did, in fact, know exactly where the dealership was and was delighted to meet us there as she wanted us to drive a friend back to San Miguel.

Long story short (too late for that now, right?), I bought the car. That week included a banking holiday so I had to do some fancy footwork in order to get the money together. The salesman delivered it to the ranchito on Thursday and I drove him to the bus station for his return trip. Then, on Friday, I needed to get the car registered, get license plates (Mexico City’s smog prevention program does not allow cars without plates to drive in Mexico City on Friday’s and two of our planned travel days were Fridays) as well as a smog certification (required every six months here). We were able to ask for plates with no circulation on Wednesdays, and managed to pull it all off in the morning and departed for Mexico City that evening.

Given that I’m afraid to drive in Mexico City, you can imagine how white knuckled I was, as Rod drove my brand new car across town to the hotel. He did a fine job I think. My eyes were closed most of the time.