Dead Battery

One of life's routine annoyances came my way this week, but somehow blossomed into an ordeal of absurd proportions.

On Tuesday evening, D2 and I were going to leave work and go to a cocktail party fundraiser for a lawyer named Rod Vereen, who is running for Congress (yes --he's Ben Vereen's cousin). I tried to start my car, and the battery was dead.

Rather than delay our departure, I left my car in my office garage and drove with D2, figuring I'd deal with the problem the next day.

Wednesday morning I called AAA and they came within 15 minutes. Since many car companies now have roadside assistance programs, AAA has a lot of competition, and their service has improved dramatically.

The technician connected his power box, the car's electronics jumped to life, and then...nothing. After messing around for awhile, the technician told me, in his broken English, that Lexus cars have a problem --their security systems "reconfigure" after a battery dies, and won't allow the engines to start.

No problem, I told him, I'd call Lexus Roadside assistance. I did, and they sent a tow truck about 30 minutes later. I met the driver in the garage, and he attempted to push the car back. The wheels were locked. He had no idea how to free them.

"Aren't you from Lexus?" I asked. Turns out he wasn't --Lexus just sent him out. He left, too. Before he did, I told him to call Lexus, have them take care of it, and tow the car to the dealership near my house, Lexus of Kendall.

He said he would.

D2 and I left for lunch. While we were out, the Lexus lady called to say another crew had been dispatched, and the car was removed. Sure enough, when D2 and I returned, it was gone from its space.

A few hours later I called the dealership to see if they repaired the car, and found it wasn't there!

Now my dead battery had turned into "Dude --where's my car?"

Well, this morning, that mystery was solved. I got a call from the dealership in North Miami --they had my vehicle! And, it WAS only a dead battery.

The nice lady there also wanted to fix a few recall items, and I told her it was fine, but I needed a loaner.

As I write, the loaner is supposedly on its way to me. We'll see.

At this rate, I have a feeling the car is going to get sent to Atlanta.