Our car

Our car, like us, is getting old and decrepit. Since we returned, it developed a grating noise in the front brakes. The same thing happened a few years ago. I suspect the dust and sand have a way of wearing down the brake pads.

We have tried several repair shops, but we needed one close to home so that we could walk to and fro in the heat without too much discomfort.

Our very first repair was done by a shop owned by a couple of brothers, Los Hermanos, but they moved so another Oxxo could move in. So when we heard that they were at a different location, fairly close by, we looked them up.

We showed up one morning and the brother who spoke English, Juan, remembered us from our repair four years ago. He said that they were short-staffed as three of his guys had Dengue. He told us to be there the next morning at nine o’clock and not to be late. When we finished laughing at his precise time we went back home.

Juan

The next day and just to mess with him we arrived at Exactly 9 am. He told us that we would get the car back that day. (Sure!)

After arriving home and preparing to go to the beach, Juan called me and said he couldn’t find the security socket to remove the wheel. I suggested several locations including the trunk where the spare tire was kept. But no, he couldn’t find it.

Rosalie was down for a nap so I grabbed my Tilly hat and sunglasses and hiked to the repair place. My leg was still giving me a hard time so this was a bit of a chore.

When I got there I rechecked all the places I had told him to look but with no success. Then I checked the trunk and in the well where the spare was, I found the missing piece. Juan said that he had checked in there but hadn’t find it. I think he was stalling for time.

Me after checking the oil.

As my leg was sore I got him to drive me home and he promised to call when the repair was done later in the day. That didn’t happen. We had gone to Tito’s for refreshment and didn’t hear from Juan for the rest of the day. However, it was two-for-one at Tito’s so by this time we didn’t care anyway.

I called him the next morning and told him we needed the car pronto as we had friends to pick up at the airport. He said it would be finished in two hours. Sure enough three hours later he showed up at the door with the car. I ran him back to the garage but didn’t have enough money to pay him so I told him that he would have to trust me. He said, “Don’t worry I know where you live.” I said I would be back in an hour and took off. I thought I would wait for two hours just for some revenge.

The car drives great now. They replaced the rear brake shoes (not the front) and one cylinder, the total cost was 2,000 pesos, about $140 CDN.

Juan also told me that there was a squeak in the front end, which I knew about but couldn’t get anyone to fix it previously. So, next week, I will return again and wait another couple of days to get the car back.