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Tow Truck
4 April 2023
The maintenance light went on and stayed on one day last month when we started the car. We found a YouTube video explaining how to turn it off. Then we found the same instructions in the manual. Ha ha.
Tow Truck. iPhone 6 Plus at f2.2, 1/638 second and ISO 32. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
We hadn't expected such transparency from the manufacturer. After all, the warning was there for a reason. To warn us to take the car in.
It isn't a mysterious message. It only means that the warning hasn't been reset in 3,000 miles so it was time to change the oil (at least).
And, in fact, when we went in for an oil change, the record showed we hadn't had the engine tuned in 10 years. "We recommend it every seven years, sir," the service jockey sheepishly suggested.
It had indeed been two years since the last oil change. We don't drive much these days. In fact, the family sedan has a total of 100 miles in the last two years. Ha ha.
We took it as a good sign it was parked with the driver nowhere in sight.
So we sprang for a tune-up and got a nice wash and wax as a thank you.
But there was bad news from the safety inspection. The front tires were down to the wear bar with some balding on the inside. They texted us a video of the tire wear. And the rear tires were not long for this world either, they added.
Being swamped in atmospheric rivers this winter, we'd been slipping from a standing start. We know how to handle slipping and sliding. But that told us it was time for tires.
So we went to the tire center service desk at Costco to see what they had. Nothing. Neither Michelin nor Bridgestone, the brands they carry, make our size any more. After 20 years.
We ended up at Paul's Tires on Geary because they could special order a brand we recognized for installation the next day. Toyo (whose contests we've featured here in the past). 75,000 mile guarantee. Which may seem like overkill on a car with 95,000 miles in 20 years but the new tires won't make it through the life of the engine.
And we're driving a lot more these days. In the rain.
There's no waiting room to speak of at Paul's Tires. It's a hole in the wall with piles of tires outside and a couple of bays inside.
So we left the car and walked around the block to visit the old neighborhood, touring Clement St. before going to the library around the corner from Paul's Tires.
On the way, we saw this Bay Bridge Towing truck. We took it as a good sign it was parked with the driver nowhere in sight. Slow morning on the bridge.
When we got the call from Paul's Tires, we hustled over there, paid the bill and found the car parked on the street.
And drove home without once slipping on the wet streets. Ha ha.