The $8,000 Elevator

I've had my car for 4 years now and it's in great condition though it had accumulated some pretty unsightly pings and dings, most of them my fault. As most of my friends know, I'm kind of good about taking care of my car. That is, I take it for scheduled maintenance on time.

OK, so last month, I decided to spend a bunch of money to get the car detailed inside-out and alas the car looks great...like new! Fabulous!

Last week, on a hot afternoon, returning home from work, the electric passenger window started acting up and I certainly messed with it enough until it stopped working altogether. I, of course, ran to the local SAAB dealer...they looked at it, and told me that it would cost me MXN $8,000 (about $800 USD) to get the whole elevator replaced since, for some strange reason, they couldn't just replace the small plastic piece that had broken off. Oh dear, I thought. And since I'm nuts, I also thought, oh sh*t, this has got to get fixed...RIGHT NOW...I CAN'T LIVE WITH THE WINDOW LIKE THISSSSSSS!!!!

BUT this is Mexico, right? So the customer service rep tells me, with a wink "Why don't you take it elsewhere? And who knows? Maybe they can fix it for cheaper..."

I wondered how much cheaper? Half the price? Certainly good enough for me.

I called Chava and he told me that in Guadalajara there's a whole district of shops where you can get car parts for cheap. The parts mostly come from stolen cars. I felt a little cringe but again, it was a small plastic part, probably made in China. The wave of guilt left me as soon as it came and I promptly said "Yes, let's do it!"

On Saturday morning we drove out to "the district". I was frightened by most of the sights - wild dogs, bandidos, the ever-present taco stand, dirt everywhere, the shops were shacks with rusty car parts hanging everywhere! Oh, and there was this street vendor who tried to talk me into buying a pair of binoculars...with night vision. Actually, the whole thing reminded me a bit of the South Bronx but with carnies, if I really used my imagination. I said to myself "OK, Cris now you really are in Mexico!"...and "Thank God for Chava!". He even knew where to go, a place called "El Chino."

Anyway, someone was able to help us quickly, as in zero wait, the work was done right there on the sidewalk. The staff was polite, professional and efficient; better yet, I had a new *metal* piece (which presumably lasts a long long time) installed in less than a half hour. The cost? MXN $600 (like sixty green ones!). Hell yeah! Unbelievable, right? This must've been one of the most memorable Saturday mornings I can remember, not counting this one time I was really hungover in Vegas. One time? I digress...this time, I was just shocked and full of glee.

With the leftover money, we headed to Teatro Diana and bought unbelievably cheap tickets for RENT. We also ate a nice lunch, bought floor tiles for the yard, then went to the movies...we didn't even come close to spending USD $100 for the whole day. Holy cow!

As for the guilt...well, I just have to accept that I'm in Mexico and I ain't gonna change it!