11-15-15
After lunch, we rode to a Mazda car dealer on the Westside of
Taichung to see the Mazda2. We spent over an hour there and made an appointment
for a test drive this Thursday; they’ll come to our condo to pick us up. The
chances are small that I will pull the trigger and buy the car. I still don’t
need a car, but Leona gets excited every time a car comes up. I told her again
I will not drive it around town; only into the mountains on vacation.
11-20-15
I am warming to the idea of buying a new car in Taiwan. Perhaps we
can take more trips; perhaps not. I guess it is good to have a car just in case
we need it. We can afford to spend $20,000 us, and it will be fun adding
"automobile" to our dictionary of topics.
The Mazda dealer on the Westside brought the Mazda2 to our house
for me to take a test drive. First, he had to show us we could fit the car onto
our elevator parking space in the basement garage.
While I put my sneakers on upstairs, Leona went downstairs and
escorted him in the car into the garage. He maneuvered the car onto the space
and got out. Leona pressed the button to drop the car into the slot below
ground level but something went terribly wrong. The inexperienced salesman
parked the wrong way and neglected to apply the emergency brake! When the car
dipped backward going down, it slipped back and crashed into the concrete wall.
Leona pressed the 'stop' button but it was too late. There was a six inch dent
in the middle of the red hatchback door, and scrapes along the fender.
The young salesman started to stress out about his boss
admonishing him and incurring a garnishment of his wages, even losing his job.
I suggested to Leona we offer to pay for half the damage; she translated it to
him. He said if we buy a car from him it would be payment enough. In a peculiar
way, it added to the certainty that we would buy a car.
The Mazda2 engine is 1500 cc and much weaker than the Toyota
Matrix than the 3.8 liter engine I used in New York for eight years; My second
daughter has been using it for two years more. The Matrix was sufficient on
long drives and mountain climbs. However, the mountains in Taiwan are steeper
and require a car with a more powerful engine. We will text drive a Mazda3 on
Saturday. The Mazda3's engine is 2000cc but still smaller than the
Matrix's.
Since we're going to spend our savings, we may as well spend a
little more and get a more powerful car. The Mazda3 is $3000 more than the
Mazda2. Money is for spending; we haven't spent much since we sold the house in
May. But is a buying a car worth the price of four international nine-day
vacations?
11-22-15
Saturday wasn't bad. I didn't ride the bike because of the spotty
rain, Leona called her brother who had time to bring us to the Mazda dealer in
Feng-yuan. When we got there, I test drove the car that will probably become
ours; a red 2015 Mazda3 five-door. I drove up the mountain road near the golf
course and liked what I felt. The car had enough power and finesse to take the
Taiwan mountain roads.
After we got back to the dealership, I drove to our condo to see
if the car would fit into our elevator parking spot in the basement garage. It
did. The dealer backed it in. It is a tight fit though. I have to squeeze
alongside, duck down so I don’t hit my head on the upper car platform. Then. I
can turn around, sit and get in. Not an ideal parking routine, but there is
another tenant in our condo building that has a top parking spot she
doesn't use that we may be able to borrow.
Even if the dealer from Tai-Yuan Road can give us the same 15,000
NT discount for paying cash, the same free added features and expedited
delivery date, we will probably still go with the Feng yuan dealer because he
seems 'better.' I don't know if the first dealer will take us up on my
offer to pay for half the damage he inflicted on his sample car by not employing
the emergency brake; I will let Leona handle the details and save the
face.
11-23-15
I have already thought twice about buying a car in
Taiwan and decided to do it. It might remain parked in the basement on most
days since parking in any city in Taiwan is problematic, but having a car can
be useful. I think Leona will enjoy it, too, and probably drive it sometimes to
get her hair done or have dinner on the Westside. I think we might sign the
papers this week.
11-29-15
While Leona was tidying up in the kitchen, she mentioned that the
second Mazda car dealer had called her again asking if we were ready to
make a deal. I went into a convoluted monologue about the unnecessary car we
were going to purchase. Leona, frustrated, said we then didn't have to buy one
if I didn't want to. I repeated that she had to take fresh-up driving lessons
(actually she could practice in our new car) because I will try to drive the
car as little as possible in keeping with my bicycle/ public transportation lifestyle.
Today, I will suggest we go to the car dealer tomorrow to make the deal; the
dealer is off today or we could go today.
11-30-15
It is another Monday for the working stiffs of Taichung, swamping
the streets with their polluting scooters and cars on their way to work. Mostly
students take buses here, and there is no subway but a railroad line passing
through with seven stations and one tiny light rail under construction. I can
get anywhere in Taichung within a half hour on my bicycle; so could many others
but they're too lazy; they don't want to sweat and mess up their clothes so
they pollute and mess up the air.
Later this morning, Leona's brother, who has the day off, will
drive us to the Mazda dealer in Feng-yuan to sign our name to a red 2015 Mazda3
five-door. We may as well have it to fill the basement garage space we had to
buy when we bought the condo. If we go on more trips around Taiwan to places
buses and trains and tourists don't go, it will be worth it. If it takes us
somewhere we wouldn't go because of the rain, it would be worth it. Otherwise,
it is only to fill a gap and spend extra money we're spending nowhere.
Leona’s brother will
be here at 10am to drive us to the Mazda dealer. We will go with the second
dealer; not the first who let the test drive car slide into the concrete wall
in our elevator garage spot last week. The first dealer finally called back
yesterday after a week, but Leona and I feel comfortable with the second, more
seasoned, car dealer. At least he told Leona all the facts about financing and
discounts; Leona had to drag it out of the first dealer yesterday after he had
said there would be no discounts or six free options. Also, the service center
in Feng-yuan is more convenient than the one on the Westside.
12-2-15
The
sky is smoggy and the forklifts downstairs spewed their local exhaust a few moments ago.
The air pollution and overcrowding ruin Taichung's appeal. If the quality of
life means 'the less you have to avoid,' Taichung is a challenge. However, I
know where not to go in Taichung and I know when not to go out. We are in
Taichung because Leona's family is here and because we like the convenience of
a city. The air is not as clean as it is in Brooklyn, and the shops look a
bit shoddier here, but in every way else, living in Taichung is better for
us. At least the streets don't smell like urine and garbage truck juice.
Taichung smells better than New York City. It has been raining in Taipei, but
not in Taichung.
12-4-15
I don't think I am taking a bike ride this morning because the
Mazda dealer from Feng-yuan is picking us up to inspect the car we will be
buying. When we signed the purchase agreement on Monday, he said the car would
be delivered, from Japan, in a month. But as Leona explained, each dealer in
this corrupt land has a car stashed away for special customers, government
officials, VIP's, and people, like us, who pay full in cash. Our car is ready;
all we need is to approve it and await license plates, probably by
Monday.
12-9-15
Leona's brother checked the Lunar Calendar and saw that Saturday
was a 'good day' to pick up our new car. He was gotten involved, with my
blessing, to drive us to the dealer, and I agreed to let his wife handle our
insurance, at his request, after Leona had agreed to use the car dealership
insurance the first year.
12-14-15
I drove our Mazda3 home yesterday morning. I had jokingly told
Leona to ask the car dealer for a ribbon around the car, as I'd seen in TV
commercials in the States, and he came through with a little red ribbon
attached to the front. It was a morning of final instructions, a once over the
car, hands-on, for Leona who sat at the wheel and listened to what each of the
buttons on the dashboard does. A manual as thick asMoby Dick, with a few pages
dedicated to English speakers, was in a black zippered case along with
insurance card, title, and receipt. We said our final goodbyes and I drove away
listening to an FM radio station.
I had asked Leona if she wanted to drive to lunch somewhere but she
just wanted to go home, so I drove at 50 kpm and made the turn at the tire shop
on our corner, passed the semi-professional and his wife, and up the alley to
the driveway down to our underground garage. It was the first time I had driven
in. I maneuvered the car down the tight passage, like a suppository in
someone's asshole, and found the slip, the lower berth of the elevator spot
that came with our condo unit. Leona got out and raised the berth to ground
level. I positioned the car and backed in. Straight it was and exactly fit, a
foot on the sides and a few inches overhead; car 'park', hand brake on. I
pressed the button to pull the rear-view mirrors in to make it easier to course
the narrow passage over a dusty corrugated steel bed back to the garage, making
sure not to soil my clothes or bump my head. Safely out, Leona pressed the
button to drop the car subterranean. She didn't have to; we could have left our
berth up and let the upper berth driver put it down to get his vehicle on top. Slowly, the
hydraulic arms showed their silver gleam and the car dipped. Then, I heard a
crunch, a slight but clear metallic crunch. "Stop the car lift!" I
shouted and Leona complied, but it was too late. The two inch bump of antenna
casing on the car’s rear top was torn off, lying sideways, in the indentations
the top berth had made on our car roof!
A little man, a tenant of our building, stopped to see the bad
news, the only news that travels fast, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction
of something to whop about when he got into his unit. Indeed, even if I knew
what to say, I had nothing to say to him. He sensed something was wrong and
followed me following Leona upstairs to get better reception on her cell phone
so she could immediately call the car dealer and tell him what happened. So
shocked was she that she didn't hear me say that the roof was dented in
addition to the antenna being ripped off.
The
little man followed me up and I shooed Leona out of his earshot as I repeated,
as she talked, that the car was dented in the accident. Initially, the dealer
told her to have me take the car out and park it on the street, his idea being
they would send someone the following day to put the antenna back. I repeated
to Leona to tell him the car was dented and we wanted to return it to the
dealership immediately.
The message through to him via Leona, we got back into the car,
making sure the antenna was secure, turning left outside the driveway to avoid
the semi-professional and his gawking wife, and drove back to the Mazda
dealership in Feng-yuan talking over what had just happened to us and the car.
I wanted a new car or none at all, if money back was possible, since it was
obvious the car would fit in the berth, but not when the elevator was lowered
and a negative shift in headroom height occurred. The million dollar question
was: Why hadn't that accident happened to the Mazda3 when the car dealer tried
seeing if the car would fit in the berth? Indeed, why hadn't the top been
crushed when, a month earlier, the Westside dealer parked the Mazda2 in the
berth?
The answers to these two questions are simple: The first dealer
with the Mazda2, thanks to the negligent dealer’s not putting the car in ‘park’
or hand brake up, had the car crash into the wall of the berth well when it
slipped off while being risen into place; not even halfway down, Leona had
pressed the 'stop' button to avoid more damage to the rear of the car.
But
what went wrong with the Mazda3? The car was firmly in 'park,' hand brake up,
and centered it, accordingly, face forward on the lift. More than two-thirds of
the way down, the damage was done. The Mazda2 hadn't gotten that far down so no
such damage had a chance to occur. But, most importantly, neither the Mazda3
car dealer, nor Leona or I, had put the lift all the way down on the trial run;
the dealer stated the obvious; that the car clearly fit, and we went no
further.
One
of the three of us should have gone through with the whole parking process. We
then would have heard the crunch before the car became ours. Instead of it
being our problem, it would have been his and the company's problem as it was
with the first Mazda dealer.
In Taiwan, where the consumer has virtually no protection and the
laws favor the company and management much more so than in the US of A, we had
no chance of getting culpability placed in the dealer’s offence of
guaranteeing, no matter in writing or not, that the Mazda3 would fit in the
berth. Even if we made a law suit against the company for a new car, we would
lose in the end. It was that reminder from Leona that stopped me from
hard-balling the car dealer as we negotiated in the showroom. Instead, the
insurance company was contacted, we would fulfill the no-charge, one
accident-per-year coverage, and the service center would repair our car. As I
told the dealer, who sat nervously in his chair, the accident was our fault for
not being careful and insisting the berth be lowered, completely, when he
tested it out. He knew I was right.
Leona's brother was contacted, not only to tell him what had
happened but because he had asked us to let his wife be our insurance agent;
the paperwork for coverage would be hers to fill out. For her brother's part,
his "I told you so" put him in the driver's seat of wisdom; no
sympathy had he. I joked with Leona that it was actually his fault the accident
occurred because he had clearly checked the Lunar Calendar and found Saturday
morning to be the best time to pick the car up. He backed out of driving us
which set the cosmic joke in order; the gods would have treated us differently
if he had followed through with his prognostic advice. But since we are not
that superstitious, her brother would only hear of his responsibility for our
dilemma if he continued saying "I told you so." Even the car dealer,
on driving us back home, asked if not we wanted to say a prayer at a temple, as
most new car owners opt to do. We politely declined.
The repair to the car will be done as quickly as possible. The
dealer apologized a few times and felt terrible about what had happened on the
first day of our car ownership, but he is taking no responsibility. I am
bemused. I could say it was karma; we should have gone with the first dealer,
the young man who needed our business. I could say Leona should have gotten the
guarantee of parkability in writing, but neither would matter more than
brushing it off and making each other happy that we have each other and no one
was hurt in the incident.
Leona's brother called the dealership management on his own. He
knew someone who knew the man; it is the kind of networking that gets things
done much faster than the loopholes in Taiwanese law. What he got was an
apology, an acceptance of partial responsibility, and a free $200 us alarm
system added to the car to sweeten the deal and soothe our feelings.
12-15-15
I do not regret buying a car. If I rarely drive it, that is fine with me. If
Leona rarely drives it, or doesn’t drive it at all, that is fine with me, too.
If we never drive the car to a wonderful place that is impossible to visit
without a car, I will not be regretful. It is just that I don’t want Leona to
have to drive the scooter on cold or rainy days. I will drive to go somewhere
on those bad days. I cannot blame Leona for not researching how to park the car
correctly on the bottom of the car lift; I didn’t investigate how to do it,
either. The car dealer is not responsible for the damage to the car; we should
not have relied on him for information about our own business. Which car dealer
we bought the car from does not matter. I agreed with Leona’s choice because
she felt comfortable. I would have picked the first dealer, but so what? Even
though Leona told the woman about our car accident, I do not mind. I do not
trust the woman not to spread gossip, but it will not embarrass me if she does.
I only want Leona to be happy.
12-15-15
The bottom berth of the car lift in the garage downstairs has two
metal slats that protrude in the wheel tracks through the bed as the car dips into
position going down. When I was parking the car Sunday, I was only told about
the three-inch high speed bumps on the top berth. The car dealer only showed us
those upper speed bumps. I assumed, as I guess he did, that the bumps were the
same on the covered bottom berth. He said if I drive up to those bumps, the car
was backed up enough. He didn't explain the two metal slats that gradually
protrude on the bottom berth. He didn’t know about them, either.
Mrs. She, the woman in our building Leona spoke with last evening
told Leona about them. She deducted that I didn't drive the car back past the
slats, slats that are designed to prevent the car from rolling forward when it
dips. Instead, I must have parked the car right on the slats which then raised the
rear wheels, crushing the roof in the process.
It is too late to save the car that is currently having its entire
roof replaced because of the crushed top; at least we choose the lesser of the
two evils. The dealer just wants to cosmetically repair the dents. I'm not sure
who will win in this insurance matter; I know it won’t be us. Leona says the
insurance may not want to pay for the full cost of repairing the damage. I
don't know when we will get the car back. I do know that I will remove the happy
red ribbon on the hood when we get it.
It would be foolish to blame Leona for anything regarding the car or the
damage. It was me who suggested we go see a car at the Mazda dealer Leona and
her brother had been talking about. I did it to make Leona happy; not to make
myself happy. I was happy without a car. It is too late to complain now.
However, there were actions Leona could have taken to make this transition work
better. First, she could have asked around the building and secured an upper berth
in advance before bringing the car home. Second, she could have gotten thorough
instruction about how the lift operated; Chinese is, after all, her native
language. Her brother, Shih-Dong didn’t tell us about how to park the car in
the common device used in Taiwan, one which I never saw in the U.S.
Leona said she is
going over the car dealership’s head to call the main office of Mazda to
complain about the compensation we were offered (a $200 security system) for
the car damage that was partially caused by the dealer’s negligently assuring
us the lower parking slot was safe; he didn’t tell us about the slots that come
up from the bed and lift the car if you park right on them nor did he lower the
lift to insure it worked well. I told Leona to forget about complaining and
just pay to get the damage fixed. Her sister-in-law’s insurance company,
Cathay, is blaming us for negligence and will not compensate us. There was no
mechanical malfunction, they said.
In drips and
drabs, Leona is amending what she believes (and tells me) by the information
she is given. For example, we didn’t know about the slats until the neighbor
told us after the damage was done. Also, she was told our building didn’t carry
insurance for car damage in the basement but found out yesterday that it did.
The truest thing she said was Taiwan businesses don’t protect customers after a
product is sold. I told her, in America, I would fight for equal acceptance of
responsibly and compensation from Mazda or not bother at all. She wants to take
it step by step. She was told the damage would cost us 20,000 NT - $600 US. I
say either fight for half the cost or pay it and get it over with.
I don’t know if Leona
has yet arranged to rent the parking space we will eventually use. She feels
terrible about what she knows was her omissions. I want to fight the
responsibly placed on us by the insurance company and Mazda but don’t want to
get Leona excited. In America, I was a fighter; in Taiwan, I can’t put up a
fight at all. I trust Leona to handle things here. In America, I fended for
us.
12-18-15
Leona called Mazda
headquarters in Taipei yesterday and registered a long complaint about the car
dealer and the dealership that wouldn’t accept any responsibility for
misguiding us on how to park the car on the lift in our basement. Her call did
some good. They contacted Mazda in Feng-yuan. The manager from Feng-yuan called
Leona in the afternoon, apologized and assured her that they would do
everything possible to make her feel better about buying a Mazda from them;
that they would repair the damage to the car roof as soon as possible. I didn’t
hear anything about if their “concern” would reflect on the out-of-pocket
cost for repairs we must make since Cathay won’t cover it.
12-20-15
The I-Ching said we should
take our time and let the 'male principle,' Mazda, come to us, the 'maiden' car
owners. I did our prognostication yesterday at Leona’s request. I hadn’t
consulted the I-Ching at all in considering buying a car because, as I told
Leona yesterday, I didn’t want to know what it would say. While Mazda customer
service is putting pressure on the Feng-yuan branch to put an end to this
episode, the manager hasn’t offered us anything tangible. We want an admission
of shared responsibility from the dealer who neglected to show us how to park
the car correctly and compensation for the damage to the roof. Turns out, the
roof is cracked.
Cathay is only offering 15,000 NT-$454 US but the roof
change will cost over 60,000 NT - $1818 US. Leona’s brother’s wife leaned on
her colleague to come back to our place to take pictures Friday and write
another report to try to get us more money. Leona and I will go back to the car
dealership perhaps tomorrow to be wooed. They better woo well or we will
wait. The Mazda3 remains at the Feng-yuan dealership.
12-22-15
There is no news about our car in
the Feng-Yuan shop. We are still waiting for Cathay insurance to make a final
offer of coverage above the 15,000 they’ve offered so far before we go back to
the dealership and put pressure on them to share responsibility for their
dealer’s erroneous parking instructions which precipitated the accident.
12-24-15
Leona and I went to the Mazda
dealer in Feng-Yuan yesterday before lunch when I got back from my bike ride up
the Han. We signed permission for the mechanic to begin removing the dented car
roof. He will report back on the severity of the damage, then, a new roof,
shipped from Japan, will be installed, at any cost.
At our meeting with the mechanic,
manager, and car salesman, the manager accented partial responsibility for our
mishap. I asked Leona to ask the manager and salesman if they had any idea how
the accident happened. The manager wasn’t even aware of the type of car lift we
had, and the salesman had no idea what happened. I showed a video I made of the
lift device to the mechanic and the mechanism that caused the protruding
slates, the “safety feature” to prevent a car from falling off the slab. Leona
translated my point that the salesman shouldn’t have assured us parking there
would be safe if he wasn’t sure, but Leona wouldn’t take the next step of
asking for reparations in front of the salesman, to “save his face.” It could
be fixed in 3 weeks.
12-26-15
Cathay Insurance came back again to the basement to investigate.
Two young agents rode down on scooters and thoroughly checked the scene. They
rode down on the lift with me and observed how the slats rose. They agreed it
was awkward and dangerous. They took many photos. Even the warning sign on the
garage wall was suspect, small, eight feet from the ground above the lift
switch, dirty and covered over with a sticker. there was no warning about the
parking procedures.
12-29-15
Leona made a contract with a woman in our building for her
upper berth parking space. It will cost us $35 us a months to rent it but it
will be safe and more convenient; I won't have to stoop down, twist around, and
be careful not to hit my head to get into the car. Also, the space is directly
in from the garage entrance with no turns.
12-30-15
The Mazda mechanical foreman called
yesterday to say the car roof can be fixed without having to replace it,
furthermore, Cathay said they would cover all costs. The car will be returned
by January 15th. I believe our inferring that Mazda take some responsibility
for the mishap in our basement, and not only the observations after repairs
were begun, led to this happy conclusion. I believe they were going to change
the roof and stick us with the cost if we didn’t put up a stink. Leona wouldn’t
have put up a stink if I hadn’t led her to it. She leaned on her
sister-in-law who benefited from our business; Cathay sent agents three times
to our basement to investigate, and contacted the Mazda manager regularly to
work it out. Yes, Leona solved the problem her way, with my
as-gentle-as-possible prodding.
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