PAUL IS DEAD or YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT BUT IF YOU TRY SOMETIME YOU JUST MIGHT FIND YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED

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It's not every day you get two pop icons into one title but I managed to do it with Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones.  And Margot's car, Paul.  (If Margot comes across as a lightweight she is not--she had a 3.5 GPA at Texas A&M in business on top of being drop dead gorgeous, taking after her mother.  But she does like to personalize things and her car is Paul, Margot being a big Beatles fan and the car being bought soon after Margot and her mother saw Paul, the musician, in concert.)

I came home the other day after turning on the water in one of the houses after a massive cold snap and the plumbing had more holes than Albert Hall (jeez, another Beatle reference.)  I was not in a good mood as this meant me doing a lot of plumbing or calling Edwin, my off the clock plumber, and spending some money.  I was not in a good mood.  There was a message on the phone.  "This is your daughter and I had to crawl under my car at 7 this morning and duct tape the front back on.  I need a new car."  Click.  Dialed her number, knowing she was at work and wouldn't pick up, and left the following, "Buy more duct tape."  And then waited for the fallout.

Margot called a little hot that night and said "Paul is dead."  I had cooled off a bit and calmly asked for a list of injuries.  "But first does it run ok?"  "Yes."  "Anything mechanically or safety related, like brakes, not working?"  "No."  "Ok, what's wrong?"

The list of problems consisted of  a fallen off VW symbol, broken front grill, ripped up plastic front bumper, a cup holder cover that was half off, broken center armrest, scuzzy looking antenna, driver side armrest that looked moldy, same for passenger side, and worst of all, a non-working CD player.  "That's it?"  I asked.  "That's enough." Margot said.

And this is why 99.9% of new cars are bought in the United States.  Little stuff going wrong on the existing car and people getting bored with what they have.  Paul was not dead, he just needed a little plastic surgery.  (Some of you may be scratching your head thinking "What is this Paul is dead stuff?"  Jump in the Wayback Machine to 1969 and you will find the nation's campuses buzzing over the burning question of the time.  Not the Vietnam war or civil rights or women's rights but "Is Paul McCartney dead?"  Somehow this rumor got started and everyone under 25 was looking at Beatle albums for clues which included Paul barefoot and in a white suit on "Abbey Road", John singing the "Walrus is Paul" and the best--running a record backwords and hearing the words "Paul is dead."  I actually saw somebody do this but I can't verify that I heard "Paul is dead."  I heard something but not sure what.  What we know now is that John is dead and George is dead but Paul is going strong.  Or at least the guy that took over when Paul died is going strong.  Conspiracy theories were big back then.  Not sure where Ringo is.)

But Margot's Paul was not dead, just wounded.  And I was determined to nurse him back to life.  Sue had been planning a trip to Houston to see Margot and I told them to switch cars with Margot getting the Lexus and Sue the Jetta.  When Sue got home I surveyed Paul and he did look his age.  Dangling duct tape and big hole in the grill along with the non-functioning CD and scattered interior body parts.  Made a list of parts needed and called Dee my resident import mechanic who told me there was only one place to get them--the dealer. 

I figured as much and went down there.  Made a list and confronted the parts department guy.  First he wanted to see the car which I thought was pretty smart since we would both know which parts we were talking about.  Also, he didn't go "Uh, oh" when he saw the car.  I don't like guys that go "Uh, oh" when they see a problem.  Makes my blood pressure go up.  He took a long look and we went back in to see what he had and what he had to order. 

The laundry list was:

Pin for cup holder $3.98

Driver side arm rest cover $32

Center arm rest cover $37

Grill $140

VW symbol for grill $38

Not too bad but the big item was the ripped up bumper valence as I was afraid we would have to replace the whole bumper which would be a lot but got lucky.

Bottom valence $73

So got out of there for about $300 plus tax.  Some of the stuff had to be ordered, probably in on Wednesday. 

Got it except for the CD player which they told me was $279 uninstalled.  Not too bad but held off, called Margot and agreed on an in-dash player.  On the internet to Circuit City, Best Buy, Car Toys, etc. all with the knowledge that I would spend more than what was on the screen.  Car stereo and car tire shops are both places where you go in thinking you're going to spend $300 and end up spending $500 or some equivalent ratio.  Decide on Circuit City and meet the stereo dude.  Everybody knows the stereo dude, the guy that knows everything and any unit less than $700 is trash.  This stereo dude was not bad, probably figured I couldn't hear anything anyway but did opine that the unit I was looking at may, just may, reject burned CD's AND the unit he recommended at $30 more had an input for Margot's iPod.   Convinced me so 40 minutes later the stereo dude and his gang had put in a new Sony unit for $172.

Got home and the VW guy had called saying the parts were in.  Next day pick them up and go to see Bo, my body guy.  Bo, or one of his guys, made a big mistake a couple of years ago when they were taking the windshield out of my then being restored 1962 Porsche 356 convertible and dropped it.  The windshield went in a thousand different directions and finding a replacement was neither cheap or easy.  I told him to forget it as we probably needed a new one anyway but he felt bad, really bad and made it up with some free work on my son's Firebird and Sue's car.

Bo looked at Margot's car, the parts and 'no problem.'  He and one of his guys had everything on the car in 30 minutes.  No charge.  C'mon, Bo.  No charge.  I tried to make a contribution to his church (Bo is very religious) but he wouldn't take it.  Made me feel bad but I told him I would say good things about him to other people.  He said, "I know."

So Paul, Margot's car, is back among the living.  Not concours but she doesn't have to park it two blocks away so nobody will see it.  Actually for less than $500, it looks pretty good. 

The next time you get in that piece of junk of yours, consider spending $500 rather than running up $20,000 in debt and interest for a car that will look like your current piece of junk in four years.  Paying $500 and not $20,000 is how you get rich.   

       

Comments

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[Freddie Sirmans]

Your blog is trailblazing, keep up the good works.

[Henk]

I love my company car !
However, someone should have warned me that the Netherlands taxes company cars until you're just about 1 millimeter below shouting "KEEP THE DAMN THING !!!"
Bloody Dutch

[Caitlin]

Glad to read that Paul is alive and kicking...'dubs rule (especially Jettas!) Great example of how spending a few hundred dollars can sex-up your current ride if it's well spent (vs spending tons more on a new car)

[Margot]

I've decided that I should comment on at least one story my dad writes seeing as how he enjoys using me as a case study. Paul the Jetta is running great, and I'm basking in beautiful music courtesy of my new cd player. It's not the Mazda RX-8 I've been dreaming of but he's still pretty pimp-tastic (after a little nip 'n tuck).

[SkyeBlue]

I have a 1988 Buick Park Avenue Electra, and her name is Carmen (as in Carmen Electra). We'll that is what I call her anyways but among smart aleck friends and neighbors she is "Ghetto Car"! So named because the two passenger side doors do not open among other things. Would not trade her for carpayments on a newer vehicle!

[Debt Hater]

I have a name for my 2003 Nissan Altima -- Nina. I love Nina, though I can't really afford her, but my plan is to keep the car until the wheels fall off. I take good care of it and am up to date with maintenance, so I figure I can get at least six more years (I still have three left to pay it off). Joy