Another Commodity

You throw sufficient money at some problems, and they just up and disappear, at least for three months.

Yesterday I accepted reality and took my car in to have its clutch replaced. It's been slipping since a bit before Christmas and smelling just like a burned clutch. Last weekend it nearly failed me again, and that's what made me accept defeat. I'd been careful to avoid driving up hills, but there's only so many roundabout ways of getting some places that I quickly tired of the exercise.

And, to confirm my decision, the clutch slipped for the first time on level ground when I drove it over to Grevillea Transmissions.

I chose them based on three important factors. One, they weren't a corporate entity. Two, they had the magic word "transmission" as part of their name, and, three, they were within walking distance.

Of course, I was scared that I'd be ripped off. Just because I have an X chromosome doesn't mean that I can't be taken advantage of by a car place. I knew Pep Boys could do the work, and they treated me excellently once before, but I was into that whole "support the small business" thing. There are many auto repair places between me and Grevillea Transmissions, but none of them that I saw who specifically had the words "clutch" or "transmission" in their name.

Generic auto repair places, I've decided, are for engine work. If I need to have the brakes worked on, I need to go to a place with brakes in their name. There's only a few such distinct categories, but clutches are one of mine.

I had no idea when I took my car in what they would charge, but I was guessing around five hundred bucks. I've been driving manual transmissions for close to forty years, but I've never had to replace a clutch before. I guess I'm dainty.

I was expecting to be taken advantage of, but was pleasantly surprised when I entered the small, dark office. After greeting me in Spanish, I was greeted again in English when the guy actually looked up from his computer and saw me. As I spied later, he was just beginning to make a lista.

I asked if they could replace me clutch and was surprised when he said yes, for $325. I was expecting one of those estimates, followed by a series of phone calls, and a negotiated price inflated by unexpected problems. None of that happened, he just told me what it would cost, and I realized then that this, to everyone in the world except me, is a commodity.

Some jobs, I guess, are easier, and some are harder, but it's evidently not worth the effort to track the labor and cost of the parts. As it turned out, the parts were $125 and the labor $200, both nice, round numbers.

After I gave him the ignition key, he said it would be ready "in two to three --", and I quickly thought "hours," and was impressed by how quickly they could get to work on my car. I figured it would take a day just to locate the parts.

"-- days," he concluded, and even that impressed me. None of this coming up with an exact time nonsense, this was real life estimating. I nodded and walked home, looking forward to my car getting new pressure plates and throw-out bearings, in addition to the clutch plate.

It took me longer to walk home than I planned, which shames me. It's a good thing I don't intend to take part in the LA Marathon this year, but I was proud of myself for fixing my car before it died in traffic and pissed off a lot of commuters.

Then, today, no more than thirty hours after dropping my car off, I was told my "pretty little car" was ready. I knew he was kidding about the "pretty" part, since he'd already commented on the power of a Metro, but I walked back over and picked it up without incident.

The biggest change isn't that the clutch engages the transmission perfectly, which it does, and even permits me to shift between gears without double-clutching and grinding, but the travel in the clutch. It drops to the floor like a brake pedal without fluid when I engage it, which I thought must be a mistake, and offers even less resistance than the gas pedal. But, when released, it works smooth as silk.

Maybe this is how it's supposed to be. It will take some getting used to, and I wonder what I'll do for exercising my left leg. Maybe put in a radio so I can tap my foot.

Instead of enjoying my new ride, or even getting used to the new clutch, I ran into rain on my way back from the shop. Since I still can't get the top to stay up, I scurried home and put the whole damn car under a tarp.

Maybe tomorrow...