The verdict on the car is that a rock or some other road debris hit and punctured the AC condenser, which caused all the freon to drain, which caused the AC to quit working. I was told that this is not something normally covered under warranty, since it was caused by incredibly bad luck instead of a manufacturer's defect (I'm paraphrasing, of course), but they're going to cover it because the car is so new. Yay!
Even if they had stuck to their guns and said they wouldn't warranty it, I imagine I could have argued my side successfully...I mean, what kind of flimsy AC unit can be taken out by a pebble during normal driving? Really, it had to be a pebble or something of similar size, and it had to be during normal driving. It's not like I go all "Fast & Furious" on the weekends or anything. I think if I had hit any truly car-damaging debris, I would remember it. And I don't remember hitting (or being hit) by anything in the past month.
The car wasn't ready when I left that side of town this afternoon, so we're picking it up in the morning. The loaner is pretty much the same car, but with the sport package...spoilers and baseboards and chrome accents everywhere. :) Totally not me, but the AC works, so it can be me for another 16 hours.
The best part is that since they're honoring the warranty, everything is free...the dealership does an "every other oil change free" thing if you bring it in at the recommended times, so that's $30 less than I thought I was going to be spending, too. I did pony up $5 for the collision coverage on the loaner car (It's from T0yota Rent-A-Car, so I had to sign a standard rental agreement, but the dealership covers the actual daily rate) because, why not? With the way my luck's been running lately, I might just total the thing by tomorrow.
Posted by Joy at August 13, 2004 06:26 PM