The $180 Car Wash

I am not a car guy. Although I admire a fine automobile, I have no desire to keep one in my stable.

But, after some bad experiences with used cars, my last two car purchases have been new cars because I value the reliability a new car brings.

This spring, I purchased a car, and the dealer threw in a free first oil change. Normally, I like to get oil changes at Mano’s Gulf station or with Ron McCaul on 4th & Highland, but I figured I’d take advantage of the freebie.

As I was driving off the lot with my freshly minted 5W20 motor oil, I think I noticed my car sounding a little different...or maybe not.

That evening, I drove up to Fairmont Park to check out Angie Stone, and after parking, I sat in the car for a few minutes because I got there sooner than expected. 

There was a light fog coming off the grass onto the street as the sun began to set and the evening started to cool.

Oh damn, that ain’t fog, that’s smoke coming out of my hood!

It didn’t take long to determine the culprit. There it sat, the oil cap, laying on the engine block. How it stayed on after all that driving is a mystery.

How do you forget to screw the oil cap back on?

With the oil level still ok, I took in the concert and then took a chance driving home hoping that the car wouldn’t explode on the highway.

I could barely sleep waiting to call the service department.

They told me to bring it in and they’d clean it up and have it back to me the next day. They gave me a rental in the meantime.

I came back to pick up the car and they did clean the engine but oil was still evident under the hood, and they didn’t clean the outside of the car which was sprayed with oil.

It took 5 days for them to clean my car and get it back to me.

At $30 a day for the 6 day rental, it cost them $180 to wash my car.

As an incentive, the service guy said the next oil change is on him. How crazy is that offer?

The dealership is Murphy Ford. The service department is Murphy’s Law.