Auto-kinetics.
Jun. 24th, 2024 07:14 pmDoing nothing can take a lot out of you. Case in point: today, and waiting.
My parents and I had gone on a morning hike and were driving back, making assorted plans, when several warning lights lit up on the car's dashboard. We unanimously agreed all plans were off, drove the last five miles back to the house, and my parents immediately started working the internet, the phones, and the insurance. We didn't know what had gone wrong besides it being something bad enough to not do any driving more than was absolutely necessary. Wanting some cucumbers wasn't necessary.
Calls were made, and more calls were made. Local and distant car repair services were scoped out. The car was turned on just long enough to double check the warning lights. Garages and dealers were investigated. The issue turned out to be something with the hybrid systems - something with how the electric and gas parts were interacting. It might be fine to drive a while, and wouldn't be a good idea to make anything worse.
In all the calls, with all the insurance agents and assorted local businesses, a tow truck was called. A tow truck was waited for. A tow truck that had to come from at least an hour's drive away, with other things for the local system to deal with. Two hours, then three. We got an alert a tow truck was on its way at last. Five o'clock came, went, and six o'clock did the same.
Around six-forty-five, the truck pulls up. He was friendly, pleasant, and understanding. There's been a lot of car issues, accidents, and problems in the region since school let out sometime in the last couple of weeks, simply because there's so many more cars on the road. We were elated he was here; he might or might not have been happy to help, but he was a professional who knew what he was doing and was happy to put that to use.
We don't know exactly what the problem is. It could cost a new car to fix. It could cost a few dollars for a two-inch part the place has in stock and will be road ready by this time tomorrow. There's no knowing just yet. There's the safety in that we can walk the four miles to the nearest grocery store and back tomorrow, and work out what to do after that for anything farther away.
My parents and I had gone on a morning hike and were driving back, making assorted plans, when several warning lights lit up on the car's dashboard. We unanimously agreed all plans were off, drove the last five miles back to the house, and my parents immediately started working the internet, the phones, and the insurance. We didn't know what had gone wrong besides it being something bad enough to not do any driving more than was absolutely necessary. Wanting some cucumbers wasn't necessary.
Calls were made, and more calls were made. Local and distant car repair services were scoped out. The car was turned on just long enough to double check the warning lights. Garages and dealers were investigated. The issue turned out to be something with the hybrid systems - something with how the electric and gas parts were interacting. It might be fine to drive a while, and wouldn't be a good idea to make anything worse.
In all the calls, with all the insurance agents and assorted local businesses, a tow truck was called. A tow truck was waited for. A tow truck that had to come from at least an hour's drive away, with other things for the local system to deal with. Two hours, then three. We got an alert a tow truck was on its way at last. Five o'clock came, went, and six o'clock did the same.
Around six-forty-five, the truck pulls up. He was friendly, pleasant, and understanding. There's been a lot of car issues, accidents, and problems in the region since school let out sometime in the last couple of weeks, simply because there's so many more cars on the road. We were elated he was here; he might or might not have been happy to help, but he was a professional who knew what he was doing and was happy to put that to use.
We don't know exactly what the problem is. It could cost a new car to fix. It could cost a few dollars for a two-inch part the place has in stock and will be road ready by this time tomorrow. There's no knowing just yet. There's the safety in that we can walk the four miles to the nearest grocery store and back tomorrow, and work out what to do after that for anything farther away.
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