The car

I can't remember if we put this on the blog, but we got a car about 6 months ago! It is a used car, an Opal Meriva. It has been great so far. But yesterday, of course the day after Jaime leaves for a week long trip, Lucia and I get into the car to find that it won't start. So I remember that Jaime said we have something like AAA through our insurance - I can call and someone will come to fix or tow the car. So I call the number and the nice lady there said that someone would be to our house in an hour. An hour later a man shows up! He speaks zero english, but I get what he is telling me - our battery is kaput. He tries to charge it, but it won't charge. So he gets out some other big battery thing and is finally able to start the car. I think, great! Then as the car is running, he is telling me again that the battery is kaput. I am a little confused, because the car is running, but I believe him... He then says in french (or this is what I think he is saying) that I need to go to the garage to get a new battery as this one is kaput and it will only take 5 minutes. So, I get that, but didn't know if he means I need to go asap to a garage, or I could wait till tomorrow, etc. So he keeps looking at me expectantly and I don't know what he wants me to do. So he ends up calling his colleague who speaks a little english. The colleague says to me - your battery is kaput. I say, I know that, but I don't know if your colleague is telling me I need to go to a garage right now or I can wait. So I hand the phone back to the tow-truck man. He has a heated conversation in french - sounds like they are in a huge fight - and then hands the phone back to me. The man on the phone says - excuse me, but my colleague would like to replace your battery because yours is kaput. This is o.k. with you? I say, yes! That is fine. So I hand the phone back to the tow-truck man where more yelling in french ensues complete with hand gestures and fist shaking. So he hands the phone back to me and the man on the phone says - excuse me but my colleague would like you to come with him to the garage to replace your battery - it will take just 5 minutes. So I say, OH - o.k. that is fine! I apologize to the tow-truck man in french and we both laugh. So I go inside to get Lucia, who has in the meantime donned her flamenco dress.

So the tow-truck man puts our car onto the tow truck and we get into the tow truck with him. Lucia can hardly believe that our car is riding on the back of the giant truck and asks me about it a couple of times on the way to the garage - Is our car still there mama?
So we get to the garage, the tow-truck man replaces our battery and then takes the car somewhere else for 5 minutes. I go to pay for the battery and the man tells me that it is duex a neuf. I am thinking to myself, I am pretty sure that he just said 209, but that can't be right. I think well maybe I am crazy and he said 12.90? But then that doesn't sound right either... too cheap. I know that the roadside service is free though, so am confused. But I hand over my credit card and I was right, $209 for a car battery! What the heck??
So we finally get the car back - the tow truck man said that he put it on the ordinateur (computer) and said se bon - so I figured everything was good. I get in the car and notice that the radio doesn't come on when I start the car. So I go back inside and tell the tow-truck man. He says that I need the code for the radio. Code? What code? So we look in the car manual and find a radio code - who knew. But he can't figure out how to input the code... he brings a succession of men from the garage out to the car and we are all trying to do the code, looking in the manual, etc. They finally tell me that I need to go to the Opal dealership to have them do the code and I am lucky because there is one that is not far from the garage. Then the tow-truck man says that I really should go right now, because when he put the car on the computer, it said there was a problem and that is why the engine light is on. When we bought the car, we had it checked at a mechanic who said it was in tip-top shape and that the engine light was on just because it was due for it's however many mile tune up - but that there was nothing wrong with it. So I am thinking, what? You just told me it was good - did I miss something? He says that the car sometimes idles below 1000 rpm's (or something like that) and that it could be a problem. So I sigh, and get back in the car and find the Opal dealership. I find a man there who takes about 10 seconds to put in the code and the radio comes back on. He gestures to the engine light that is on and asks if I want to have the car looked at. I look at the antsy flamenco dancer in the backseat and say no, it's o.k. I figure I will just take it back another day....