So, I got some new info on our car situation. Actually, I have enough info to write a short novel I think. It involves car chases (actually I was being towed), lots of money and even a conspiracy theory. Sounds good, huh?
Part 1: As of last night, I was told by Isuzu it would take about $6000 US to fix the transmission. This would involve taking out our old transmission and replacing every single piece inside it and then replacing it. Last night one of our friends came over who is a Dr. here in Surin. She told me that she has a friend who overhauled her engine and did a good job and she really trusts him. She said she would take me to meet him today after church. SO, I went today and showed the guy the printout from Isuzu and he was just as shocked as everyone else. After very little discussion, we decided to have him start hunting a second hand transmission to replace the one that I have now. He will take the old one out 100% and put the 2nd hand one in 100%. He wont have to take it apart and put the jigsaw puzzle back together. He only briefly mentioned a price which was between 20,000-30,000 baht which is $650-$900 US.
Part 2: Today I talked with Mr. Wut who went with us to visit the “shady” mechanic. We’ll call him “Bubba” from now on. Bubba told him that he had driven about 60 kph the whole way to the shop when he towed us. Mr. Wut said that you can’t drive faster than 30 when towing an automatic. Then, Ya and Orawan talked to Ya’s mechanic uncle who said if you tow and automatic, you can’t go faster than 20 or you have to disconnect the drive shaft first. That’s also what my father-in-law said too. Then, today I asked the mechanic and he said if you tow an automatic, you can’t go more than 15-20 kph and if you go more than an hour, you should stop and add a liter of transmission fluid to the car. THEN, Isuzu also said that “yes, towing the car is the reason why the transmission is ruined.”
My conclusion based on extensive evidence is that Bubba is responsible though not LIABLE for my transmission.
Part 3: The Conspiracy Theory
Today I showed the mechanic the list of work that the guys had done at Bubba’s. He said “they charged you 34,000 baht and then let you leave with the car after paying 24,000? There’s no way that they could buy all these parts and do all this work and let you leave without paying.” His conclusion is that there’s something shady going on at Bubba’s. I also told him that they didn’t save any of the parts they replaced. They conveniently threw them away.
Then, the mechanic who is a good guy here in Surin, asked some questions about the day the car broke. I told him we left Bangkok and drove about 4-5 hours before stopping for lunch. We spent an hour or so eating lunch and then got back on the road. We hadn’t gone 10 or so minutes before we experienced absolute catastrophic engine failure. He asked if the temperature gage was all the way up on hot and I said no, it was normal. He asked if there was a pool of liquid on the ground either from the engine or radiator. I said no, there were no fluids, no steam, no smoke, just a complete loss of power all at once. He then went on to cautiously say that it is very easy to take a piece of metal that’s about a foot long and jab it into a spot near the radiator and cause it to pour out the antifreeze. He said that the pistons would quickly overheat and your car would die. I then went on to explain that we had been pulled over on the side of the road for about 3 minutes before our good Samaritan pulled up to offer us assistance. He already had a rope tied to his bumper and in about 45 seconds he had it tied to our car ready to take us to his brother’s shop. At the time, I thought, “what a blessing this guy is.” Our new mechanic thinks that if that guy was an angel, he didn’t come from heaven. Then, after we got to Bubba’s three guys showed up out of nowhere and spent three hours disassembling our car with a vengeance. Mr. Walton who was with me commented that these guys sure know what they’re looking for because they were ripping stuff out left and right. After three hours, they showed me what was supposed to be the problem and said they could fix it.
Sound fishy to you? 1) We have no previous engine problems.
2) Ten minutes after lunch we experience total engine shutdown.
3) Three minutes later a Thai guy willingly offers “help” to a car load of white people stranded in the middle of a rice field in the middle of nowhere.
4) He tows us for about 30-45 minutes effectively ruining our transmission.
5) Three guys spend multiple hours tearing the engine apart to show me the exact thing that they say was the problem. They never asked any questions, they never checked things as they went. They knew what the problem was.
6) They ask for a very large sum of money by Thai standards.
7) They explain that they fixed the engine but the transmission doesn’t work. They offer to fix it for a minimal price.
8) We go to pick up the car. They conveniently threw all the replaced parts away after Supap SPECIFICALLY told them to keep them all to prove they replaced them. They offer to lower the price 10%. We offer them 24,000 rather than 34,000 and they let us leave with the car. They told us they would go and find the old parts and then bring them to us so they could collect the rest of their money.
Conclusion: Well, I’m no rocket scientist, but I do watch NCIS a lot. If Special Agent Gibbs were here, he’d have them talking in no time. I don’t have Gibbs, but I do have Orawan who is really ticked. If the guys call back to ask for their additional money, Orawan is going to tell them to meet us at the police station so we can talk there. Dr. Lee’s mechanic friend is going to start looking for a used transmission and we’ll have to hand off another $700-$900 to fix something that shouldn’t have been broken. The hard part is that I have been preaching through Matthew and am currently in chapter 6. It’s the Sermon on the Mount and today’s subject material was “don’t worry about money, God will take care of you.” This is found in vs. 19-29. I almost called Supap to tell him that I needed him to preach when I heard it was going to cost 200,000 baht to fix. Preaching is much easier when you’ve already learned the lessons that you’re talking about. It’s a lot harder when you’re the one preaching and you’re the one being preached to.
So, we still haven’t figured out the exact numbers for this new transmission yet. It could be twice as much as he quoted me so we won’t know for a few more days. But, all is well and we’re able to at least drive the car around town right now just not over 35 mph. Thanks for thinking about us and praying. Hopefully the dust is starting to settle now.
Part 1: As of last night, I was told by Isuzu it would take about $6000 US to fix the transmission. This would involve taking out our old transmission and replacing every single piece inside it and then replacing it. Last night one of our friends came over who is a Dr. here in Surin. She told me that she has a friend who overhauled her engine and did a good job and she really trusts him. She said she would take me to meet him today after church. SO, I went today and showed the guy the printout from Isuzu and he was just as shocked as everyone else. After very little discussion, we decided to have him start hunting a second hand transmission to replace the one that I have now. He will take the old one out 100% and put the 2nd hand one in 100%. He wont have to take it apart and put the jigsaw puzzle back together. He only briefly mentioned a price which was between 20,000-30,000 baht which is $650-$900 US.
Part 2: Today I talked with Mr. Wut who went with us to visit the “shady” mechanic. We’ll call him “Bubba” from now on. Bubba told him that he had driven about 60 kph the whole way to the shop when he towed us. Mr. Wut said that you can’t drive faster than 30 when towing an automatic. Then, Ya and Orawan talked to Ya’s mechanic uncle who said if you tow and automatic, you can’t go faster than 20 or you have to disconnect the drive shaft first. That’s also what my father-in-law said too. Then, today I asked the mechanic and he said if you tow an automatic, you can’t go more than 15-20 kph and if you go more than an hour, you should stop and add a liter of transmission fluid to the car. THEN, Isuzu also said that “yes, towing the car is the reason why the transmission is ruined.”
My conclusion based on extensive evidence is that Bubba is responsible though not LIABLE for my transmission.
Part 3: The Conspiracy Theory
Today I showed the mechanic the list of work that the guys had done at Bubba’s. He said “they charged you 34,000 baht and then let you leave with the car after paying 24,000? There’s no way that they could buy all these parts and do all this work and let you leave without paying.” His conclusion is that there’s something shady going on at Bubba’s. I also told him that they didn’t save any of the parts they replaced. They conveniently threw them away.
Then, the mechanic who is a good guy here in Surin, asked some questions about the day the car broke. I told him we left Bangkok and drove about 4-5 hours before stopping for lunch. We spent an hour or so eating lunch and then got back on the road. We hadn’t gone 10 or so minutes before we experienced absolute catastrophic engine failure. He asked if the temperature gage was all the way up on hot and I said no, it was normal. He asked if there was a pool of liquid on the ground either from the engine or radiator. I said no, there were no fluids, no steam, no smoke, just a complete loss of power all at once. He then went on to cautiously say that it is very easy to take a piece of metal that’s about a foot long and jab it into a spot near the radiator and cause it to pour out the antifreeze. He said that the pistons would quickly overheat and your car would die. I then went on to explain that we had been pulled over on the side of the road for about 3 minutes before our good Samaritan pulled up to offer us assistance. He already had a rope tied to his bumper and in about 45 seconds he had it tied to our car ready to take us to his brother’s shop. At the time, I thought, “what a blessing this guy is.” Our new mechanic thinks that if that guy was an angel, he didn’t come from heaven. Then, after we got to Bubba’s three guys showed up out of nowhere and spent three hours disassembling our car with a vengeance. Mr. Walton who was with me commented that these guys sure know what they’re looking for because they were ripping stuff out left and right. After three hours, they showed me what was supposed to be the problem and said they could fix it.
Sound fishy to you? 1) We have no previous engine problems.
2) Ten minutes after lunch we experience total engine shutdown.
3) Three minutes later a Thai guy willingly offers “help” to a car load of white people stranded in the middle of a rice field in the middle of nowhere.
4) He tows us for about 30-45 minutes effectively ruining our transmission.
5) Three guys spend multiple hours tearing the engine apart to show me the exact thing that they say was the problem. They never asked any questions, they never checked things as they went. They knew what the problem was.
6) They ask for a very large sum of money by Thai standards.
7) They explain that they fixed the engine but the transmission doesn’t work. They offer to fix it for a minimal price.
8) We go to pick up the car. They conveniently threw all the replaced parts away after Supap SPECIFICALLY told them to keep them all to prove they replaced them. They offer to lower the price 10%. We offer them 24,000 rather than 34,000 and they let us leave with the car. They told us they would go and find the old parts and then bring them to us so they could collect the rest of their money.
Conclusion: Well, I’m no rocket scientist, but I do watch NCIS a lot. If Special Agent Gibbs were here, he’d have them talking in no time. I don’t have Gibbs, but I do have Orawan who is really ticked. If the guys call back to ask for their additional money, Orawan is going to tell them to meet us at the police station so we can talk there. Dr. Lee’s mechanic friend is going to start looking for a used transmission and we’ll have to hand off another $700-$900 to fix something that shouldn’t have been broken. The hard part is that I have been preaching through Matthew and am currently in chapter 6. It’s the Sermon on the Mount and today’s subject material was “don’t worry about money, God will take care of you.” This is found in vs. 19-29. I almost called Supap to tell him that I needed him to preach when I heard it was going to cost 200,000 baht to fix. Preaching is much easier when you’ve already learned the lessons that you’re talking about. It’s a lot harder when you’re the one preaching and you’re the one being preached to.
So, we still haven’t figured out the exact numbers for this new transmission yet. It could be twice as much as he quoted me so we won’t know for a few more days. But, all is well and we’re able to at least drive the car around town right now just not over 35 mph. Thanks for thinking about us and praying. Hopefully the dust is starting to settle now.
7 comments:
When I first came to Thailand and started going to language lessons, I would raise interesting issues to my teachers. Some of them are similar to yours. These are their replies/responses.
1. Welcome to Thailand
2. Amazing Thailand
3. They just smiled at me.
4. "You probably misunderstood those people!"
Matt, take your pick.
Seriously, I am sure you are extremely furious over the whole matter (I would). But, it's good to see you hanging on to a little sense of humor. I am sure you have heard from veteran missionaries saying,"You need loads of sense of humor to keep you on the field."
Take care, my friend and hope to see you in Chiang Mai.
Wow, Matt. Sure hope everything works out ok with the car. Sounds like a complete mess ... and I'm sure Agent Gibbs would be right on it! (You get NCIS in Thailand????) It is nice to know, however, that dishonesty among mechanics isn't limited only to the United States. Hope everyone is well, and we're praying for you!
Wow, Matt. We'll be praying for you. I can't imagine how frustrating that would be. I guess it is neat to see how the church people rally around you, even if it is a really difficult situation. Praying for the best under the circumstances.
I just hate it when God has to preach at me instead of through me! Frustrating experience! Praying for you and that the Lord would continue to provide for all the "needs" in your lives. Hang on to the fact that God knows exactly where you are and what you are truly about. God knew you would need that Matt. 6 lesson and had you there at that time as well. God's best to you and family. Stay faithful!
OK, don't you think it's about time to update this thing??? February, March, April, ...... gettin' a little behind there! :0) Hope you are all doing well!
praying for you guys
I just shook my head while reading this. I cant think of anything that costs so much, that we depend on so much, that is taken for granted so much as automobiles. You got an expensive lesson in "what you don't know can hurt you". Buy a car magazine or something before someone convinces you that your car wont start because you're out of blinker fluid ;D
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