Jeep-er Creeper

Cliff notes version of this story.

So my car died last Thursday. I had it towed to the dealership because I just knew it was something worse than a battery. I had just replaced it maybe a year ago? I needed this fixed pronto since I was going to Austin the next day, for what turned out to be a miserable trip I should have foregone anyways. Low and behold, dead battery. Somewhat questionably, I tell the dealership to replace it. $171.58. Ouch. My gut said make them give me the old battery. Gut was right.

I was off today and finally got around to subjecting myself to a hopeless attempt to get Firestone (who had replaced said dead battery originally) to do something for me. Turns out car batteries have long warranties - like 72 months. Who knew. And they have 18 month free replacements. Who really knew. Guess what? My battery was 18 months old. If I had towed my car to Firestone they would have replaced it for free. I was kicking myself at this point. Thanks to my gut, that old battery was my saving grace. My Firestone manager put my battery on a tester - STILL GOOD!

I haul my patootie (17.6 pounds lighter patootie I might add) over to the dealership for a little chat. Dealership man says too bad, no refund for me. I ask for battery test report performed on my battery from last Thursday - it's not available anymore. So, no proof of a bad battery and no refund. Fuck them. With the intention of taking my fight up the Jeep corporate ladder, I haul my patootie back to Firestone to request a print out of my battery reading. No problem, Firestone manager even calls over to Jeep dealership to help plead my case. Turns out, Jeep dealership had screwed me over and neglected some basic car maintenance procedures. All my battery needed was a good terminal node cleaning because it wasn't getting a good connection. Therefore, car no starty. Duh.

After three hours, I haul that same patootie back to Jeep dealership with old battery in car, new battery in hand and scowl on my face. Thank you, Firestone manager, for you sincere helpfulness and for not charging me a penny to clean my battery, re-install it, put new terminal bolts on my cables and courtesy check my vehicle. And Jeep man refunded me $171.58.

10 years of driving two different Jeeps and I'm about to need a new car. Not a good idea for Jeep to screw me over if they would like me to purchase a third.