I've never in my life gotten an oil change, but it's not my car and so it will be done. One is better to other people's possessions than one is to one's own.
It's an 8:00 AM appointment at the VW dealership, 8:00 AM because I was taken off guard and couldn't be bothered to argue. 8:00 AM.
I should get up at 8:00 AM more often, think of all the things I could get done!
So at 8:00 AM, or shortly thereafter I check the car into the shop. It's an oil change, but it's a regular - every 10,000 KM servicing as well, and as he's telling me what needs doing I'm noticing the shop hours posted - $150.00, $175.00, One Million Dollars an hour, + depending on the make of your car. And he's checking the service record, telling me they'll need to purge the fuel injectors and this and that and I'm getting a bit dizzy, I wave my hand..."Just how much will it be, all told?".
"Around $500.00"
"Is there anything wrong with it?" I ask.
"No, no, well, we hope not. This is just regular maintenance".
Now me, I always thought people bought new cars so they wouldn't be confronted with bills like this, not have them scheduled in as a "matter of fact", but then, what do I know. It'll take them a couple of hours, I wander over to the mall, not open except for the Tim Hortons, pick up a coffee and sit down to wait. I'll need to get a job. Soon. Fortunately, wandering around the mall I can see lots of the shops are hiring. There's no end to opportunity here.
Eventually it's after 10:00 and I return to pick up the car. Everything is fine, $508.00 later, and they've booked me in in another 6 months. He tells me they've added some fuel additive to the gas, I should fill the car to get my "Maximum Value" out of it, and I'm thinking that they've changed the oil, dumped some fuel additive into the gas tank and just billed me over $500.00. I'd want to see me soon as well. Who in life chooses to become a doctor? Why would you when you could become a Volkswagen Mechanic and earn probably double, on better hours and with far, far less work?