A week and 3 days later, BOING! Wife calls me, says, "guess what? engine light is back on!" Start to get a bit steamed at this point, call my good buddy Mr. Service Manager, "Hey Joe, it's me again, guess what?" "Yep, engine light" "We already missed one day of work, we'll see you Saturday morning" Saturday rolls up, drove the 50mi AGAIN, admired the walls of the waiting area while Hal, R2D2 and Data plugged their positronic brains into my car.... BLEEP, BLOOP, BLIP! ..........P0744!!! Cleared code, same mumbo jumbo, along our merry way we went. Wife got her hair did, we started out for a little shopping, eating, fun....then, 30 mi from dealership, KERPOW! BIFFF! POWIE! yep, ye ole engine light, dotted my eye once again! Had my wife pull out my cell(safer that way as i was driving), she pulled up my recents, speed dialed our salesman who said he'd have Mr. Service Manager call me first thing Monday morning!
Monday morning rolls up, drink a pot of coffee, walk the choco-lab, mill around as I do before I head in for afternoon shift to make parts for REAL TRANSMISSIONS... look at phone, no missed calls... hmm, noon, no missed calls.... "light bulb!" hey, I'll call HIM! Hey Mr. Service guy, wasssup?! Heya Mr. Not-so-proud Altima owner, how about bringing that sweet ride back up here so we can plug her back up again? Me: Sure thing, see you in the morning!....Tuesday(wife takes off work again), I tell her to go ahead and take the car, I'll leave in the other car soon to meet her in case they need to keep the car. About an hour later while on my way back again, wife calls, said they want to keep the car to try to get the just-cleared-again code to come back so they can test it "fresh". Oh and by the way, you're getting close to your first oil change, we'll do that for ya for just $35 and rotate the tires for just $50!! ARGHHH, what NERVE! Finally, I pull into the wonderful carland of Oz, take several deep breaths, compose and head out to have a happy chat with Mr. Service guy. After explaining to him I'm beginning to get just a smidge torqued at his boldness to ask me to spend some cash on aforementioned lemon, that I would have HOPED my dealership would have been just a bit supportive and perhaps offered an oil change and tire rotation on the house and maybe a loaner since we both work?! Oh no, sorry, we don't do loaners anymore(likely had to quit around the time CVT's came out). Apologies ensued and after promises to get to the bottom of that pesky engine light/code thingy, homeward we go...
Tuesday....Mr. Happy Service Guy calls: "Mr. Lemon driver?" Me: yeah... i FINALLY got a hold of Nissan technical helper bots, they said, yeah there's a problem with those darn CVT's(seems there's an irreplaceable solenoid in the valve body), we'll send you a replacement transmission and you can slap it in for Mr. PO'd-car guy! Me again: how long will that take? ...oh, 2-3 days to get it shipped, 1-2 to install it, but you can drive it until then! Me: uh, no, we've missed too much work as it is, you just keep it there, and hey, no since in putting another 100mi on it now is there?... Me: Wow, really? A new transmission huh? ....yep.. Me: well, ok then, call me!
...Jump ahead to Friday...check for missed calls, nope... call Mr. Service guy: Hey guy, just thought i'd call to get an update on my portable lemonade stand! Oh, sorry, no transmission yet...lemme go get a tracking number(elevator muzak)... Aw jeez guy, looks like it won't get here 'til MONDAY! Me: ...w o w, ok, keep me posted...Tuesday afternoon...RING! heya Mr. Lemon pie guy, we got that OLD transmission out and on the floor! Me: GEE-THATS-great... Mr. Guy: we should have it back in Wed afternoon! (i put in vaca day for Wed., today)...called today, "we'll have it done by the time you get here" Me: fabulous... Of course, since the temporary tags EXPIRED at the dealership, I went and bought tags to take with me to legally drive it back. I get there about a half hour before they close, Mr Service guy has some paperwork he seems quite eager for me to sign... i browse over it, "RED FLAG"! I point to the paper and i says to guy, "Guy, tell me that doesn't mean what i think it means!" REMAN Transmission!! ...service lackey, "i'd like to say no, but it does..." OH HAIL NAW!! No way i'm signing off on a REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION IN A BRAND NEW CAR!!
.....my head explodes in a red mist... I say "where's the general manager?!" I said nevermind, I'll go find him myself! Of course i do find him, shaking like a leaf, chest pounding as my blood pressure skyrockets, hyperventilating, feeling my face filling with the crimson heat of brimstone...but calmly, i say, hey pal aren't you the dude who told me if i need anything to let you know?! yes sir, i am....they put a what in your sour-mobile? Hang on, I'll go talk to someone.....I go outside, pace off some of the blacktop, calm down minutely....i go back inside, General says I put in a call with Nissan gods, I'll call you in the morning to let you know you're screwed(ok, a bit of ad-lib there). I put on the satisfied happy face and go back to the service desk, grab my shiny new license plates(with stainless screws to avoid rust), bump into Mr Service guy, profusely apologizing about the REMAN transmission, explaining how he "argued" with Nissan and that my new lemon should have a NEW transmission....and just before i walk away i said, but you put it in anyway and didn't tell me when you got it hoping i wouldn't notice and I said "as far as I'm concerned, that car belongs to this dealership and walked out. HAPPY HAPPY, JOY JOY!Moral of the story, take supposedly exciting, happy, expensive life events with a grain of salt(or citrus zest)....right in the damn eye.
More importantly, when will Chp 2 be posted? 
