the car saga

The car saga is finally over. I used to really like my mechanic. I felt like the guy listened to me. Recently, the shop changed management and possibly ownership. The new manager doesn't listen to me. I feel like he thinks I am just a stupid girl and I don't know anything about cars, which is true to a point, but when I tell you the history of a problem that I am having, it is for a reason. I called the week we got home from MO about my moonroof and talked to him and told him the story- no power, probably just ripped out the power, aftermarket install. I didn't end up taking the car in until the following week. I told him the history again. He kept it for two whole days. They decided that it was the switch that had gone bad and they needed to order a new part. They said they should have it early next week. I waited. And waited. Friday of the following week I finally called. They said that they had received the wrong part and were waiting to get another part. Then, Alann got a call saying that they needed my VIN number for Toyota to send the right part. This is problem #1. When I dropped off the car, they said is this the best number and read off Alann's. I said no. Call the other number you have in the system. He said ok, we will. And the first few times, he did call me. Then he started calling Alann. Which isn't a big deal, it happens a lot. But Alann wasn't home so I wasn't getting pertinent information in a timely fashion. I told them to call my number when they needed to talk to me. He said he would. So then when they called Alann for my VIN number, I called them back and said "you are still calling my husband, and why are you ordering from Toyota. I told you it was an aftermarket part." The manager was very apologetic, he didn't remember me saying that, on and on (and he finally fixed my phone number too). So then they wanted my car again. I took it in, he had it for a couple of hours on one day and less than 2 the next day and voila, the car was fixed. Not surprisingly, the previous owners had ripped out the power supply when they de-pimped my car. What? The exact same thing that I told you I thought the problem was, actually WAS the problem?!? Shocking. You could have fixed it the first day I brought it in and I wouldn't have had to cover the moonroof to keep it from leaking for 3 weeks?!? Shocking. So I am a little frustrated. Obviously, he didn't really listen to me when I told him the history of the car. Twice. When he actually did listen, he was able to get the problem fixed almost immediately. But it is finally fixed. I think if I don't have any more major repairs, I will continue to use the shop for oil changes, because they are even cheaper than Jiffy Lube and we can't change the oil ourselves (too low to get under). But if there is a major repair, I will really have to consider my other options first. But for now, the moonroof is fixed and actually opens. It's nice. And they fixed my parking brake so that it actually holds the car still. And I got to wash my car after the road trip. It looks much better, outside. I still need to clean out and vacuum the inside, but I'm not feeling terribly motivated to do that. I did pull out the car seat the second time they had the car because I noticed some previously unknown deposits from Claire that needed to be cleaned up. I washed the cover again and it doesn't smell at all, and I cleaned vomit out of every nook and cranny I could find in the plastic base. It was disgusting. But it is as clean as I could get it. Hopefully, any remaining smell in the plastic will dissipate before summer.