Sold the Sienna minivan, and waiting for the new Acura MDX. For the one-week gap, I will be renting a car while the wife uses the A6, so I go as cheap as possible (local Rent-A-Wreck).

Saturday I pick up my 1998 Chevy Lumina, 107,000 miles on the odo. The Rent-A-Wreck store is filthy, smells like a very old van used to transport unbathed people. The Lumina smells the same, but with a sweet deodorizer overlay. The manager/agent is nice, but about the polar opposite of an Enterprise Rental agent.

I drive the old dog back home from work on Monday afternoon and notice on my last turn that my LF tire is FLAT FLAT. No air. Spirited driving may have done it in. I call the "after hours" number (which is, I believe, the answering machine in the agent's home/trailer) and leave a message. I go outside, jack up the car and start to pry off the hubcap.

My cell rings and it's the agent. After some argument, he agrees to give me a substitute car. He asks how long it will take me to get to the office to meet him. I start to say, "About fiftee....." and before my eyes, the car creeps forward and falls off the jack! "Abouut fiftee.... a half our or so." MUST use the emergency brake.

I re-jack, put on the donut, and then find that the driver's door will not close. The fall off the jack seems to have dorked out the latch. I break a pen, but manage to jam the latch back open so the door will close.

20 minutes later I'm off in my "newer" (38,000m) Mitsu Mirage.

I'm stylin'.

 

A week before I was to trade my 1980 Mazada 626 in on my first Audi ('84 5000, see below), Some guy just barely clipped my left-front corner. He caught just enough bumper to cleanly--without any "feel" of it from inside my car--and completely remove my bumper. I didn't know he'd even touched me until I laughed to the guy with me and said, "Hey look. Some guy lost a bumper!" Then I read the upside-down license plate!!

I used that plastic-coated electrical wire to re-affix the bumper. The Audi trade-in guy never noticed! Car's probably still out there today on some Rent-A-Wreck lot!!

 

Now that is.....hmm....ahh.....frugal.

 

lol

 

Just stupid. Save $5/day and risk your life!

 

Gotta ask- how much are you paying for this fine ride??? And was it that much less than Enterprise?

 

I refuse to answer this question.

 

LOL--seeing your upside-down plate...WTF--LOL

 

That is pretty funny. Lot of the car falling off the jack going around these days.

 

SHUTUP!

-st