I was given a used company car one summer in LA, new job. My boss said it needed to be serviced, to take it to a specific shop that handled fleet vehicles.
So I’m driving on a freeway, temps out near Riverside were over 100 degrees. This pos car ran hot and stranded me on the shoulder 3 miles from an exit. I’m wearing a white shirt/tie, had no tools, just a brief case. I was screwed!!! The asphalt was closer to 140degrees. Couldn’t sit in the car or walk in that heat.
But, I noticed when I slowed and pulled over the temp gauge in the car dropped a little. I sat there a couple minutes with the engine running and watched it continue to creep down.
So, I started driving down the shoulder, it dropped a lot. To about 210 degrees, but, I had to keep it under 10 mph or it would run hot, basically at idle. So I crept down the shoulder to an exit, then it was another 10 miles on side streets! I couldn’t believe this car would run but it did so I kept driving. Stopping wasn’t a real option. Took most of a day to drop off a pos mercury sable. I think it got junked, had 70k miles, a few dents. I never saw it again, picked up a rental that day and was given a brand new car a couple weeks later.
Funny part, the rental… After talking to the office I took a taxi to the car rental agency they used. I noticed a shiny new Eldorado Cadillac sitting in front of the door. I told the guy inside I needed a car on the company account.
i said ’boss wants me to get a compact’
he said ‘sorry, out of those, how about that cadillac outside?’ (monotone voice)
i said ‘guess my boss has to pay for a midsize, got a sable or taurus?’
he said ‘nope, what about that cadillac outside?’ (monotone voice)
i asked ‘what cars do you have?’
he said ‘only have one car, that cadillac outside’ (monotone voice)
I’m hot, soaked in sweat, thinking ‘idiot’!!!! why didn’t he say that at the start?
That eldorado was a nice car, was delivered from the dealership that morning. The rental guy had taken it to get lunch, only had 7 miles on it. I drove it for 2100 miles, got to cruise in style for a couple weeks!
