Wednesday, October 07, 2020

Car Shenanigans

I have already banged out a post today (I am writing on Tuesday to post Wednesday), but I may as well start one for tomorrow . I have the time after all because I am car-less, and there's nothing else pressing here on the homefront.

Yesterday, I drove the car into the city because it has a unique problem. Interior lights come on when I am driving and resist strongly my attempts to turn them off. And then, I have trouble locking it, and when I do manage, the alert horn is prone to begin blaring.

This happens because the seatbelt sometimes gets caught in the door, and the switch that activates lights and locks and so on and so forth, has become damaged.

We were to visit daughter and grandkids at the trailer park on the weekend but decided to refrain due to these problems. It seemed better just to let the vehicle stand forlorn and unused in driveway as punishment for its sins.

The visit would have been part of an autumn drive to revisit some of the locks on the Rideau Canal. It would have been nice to have an autumn day trip and also see the colours. Unlike last year, the weather has not been conducive for colour drives, and then the car chose to compound the problem.

Yesterday, I drove it into the city. I specifically took it to the Honda dealer because I deduced that they would have the parts to do a quick job. Wrong! Even though I had explained the problem ahead of time, they didn't have a switch in stock. It should come in today at extra delivery expense to you-know-who. Fingers crossed for a timely resolution.

I had left it there rather than waiting, for Bob had offered to pick me up and drive me home. He's a jolly good fellow. If I had driven it home, who knows whether lights would have come on and if horns would have resumed blaring.

Hondas are excellent and reliable vehicles, but they do have this little quirk of seatbelts not retracting after awhile. Since this is our second CRV, I think I can attest to the fact that it really is an issue. Perhaps they can help with the seatbelt issue, but if they can't, how do I go about remembering to check whether it has retracted properly every time I exit the vehicle? This is after a long lifetime of conditioned learning that I simply get out of a car and walk away? I mean, really, how do you overcome that conditioning and remember to check every time?

Effectively, we have been car-less for 4 days at the time of year when we could have taken a trip or three to see the colours. There are colours within walking distance, but since walking is problematic with this dadgumblasted foot, they might as well be on the dark side of the moon.


This is Tuesday morning, I will append later one way or t'other to post on Wednesday.


And here we are. Almost as soon as I typed this, they called to let me know that the vehicle was ready. Less than a minute after the call, they texted me the same thing but added that I could pay online in order to minimize contact the in office. I complied happily.

I stopped a few times for this and that on the way home and discovered that the seatbelt now retracts. So a problem solved for now, but Sue is still working on a visual reminder anyway because it will likely return at some point.



14 comments:

Shammickite said...

Good to know that your car has been to the car hospital and is feeling better. now you can zoom off to see the autumn colours. Lots left around here but rain forecast today so it will be dull and grey.

Vicki Lane said...

I can't decide if these small irritations are made worse by the overall atmosphere of angst or if they come to feel like just a fleabite in comparison to most of 2020.

Marcia said...

We have a Mazda that is 8 years old. So far a good car - big and a gas guzzler - but dependable. It should do fine on snow here in NH. But then again why would we need to be out in snow storm?

Barbara Rogers said...

I love car-trouble stories with a happy ending! Enjoy a ride about this weekend!

DJan said...

My 20-year-old Honda Civic has a seatbelt that doesn't retract, but I have trained myself to slip it behind me. Glad you got it fixed and ready for a color trip! :-)

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Glad the car issue has been resolved, John, and hopefully won't recur. My car is a 207 Jeep Liberty which doesn't have a lot of the modern safety features, but is reliable and aside from regular and expected maintenance it's still functional. I had a Honda years ago, thankfully without major issues. Now you can get out for more fall foliage pics!

Jenn Jilks said...

Isn't that crazy!
Ours went in yesterday, bearings around the steering wheel or somesuch. It was <$400, which we had expected...

Marie Smith said...

The more gadgets on a vehicle, the more things can go wrong. You wouldn’t think a seatbelt would be such a nuisance.

William Kendall said...

Quite a nuisance!

Red said...

I also have a Honda CRV. You've told me what to look for.

Rita said...

Maybe I've never had or been in cars that always have totally reliable seat belt retraction because I am used to always checking. Either that or it is the OCD part of me--LOL! Glad you got it back. :)

Mara said...

I have never driven a Honda, so have never had to deal with that. I did have a faulty indicator stick and as I am poor and use it, I had to get a new one at some considerable cost. Cars!

Margaret said...

Hondas have a great reputation, so this seat belt issue(especially if it is chronic with CRVs) surprised me. I'm glad that it's fixed, at least for now. I would hate not having a car. Even though I go few places, it's the idea that I CAN'T.

Kay said...

We have a Honda van which has been more or less reliable in the 20 years that we’ve had it. Fingers crossed it’ll be OK for a little longer. Thank goodness you were able to get it fixed without tooo much time and expense.