A lesson learned about putting a gas cap on crooked. {Plus a lovely Grilled Chicken Salad}

I want to share the salad first and then I will tell you a story. This is a wonderfully filling grilled chicken salad I had at Beef O'Brady's restaurant in Tallahassee. I had set out to get pizza for lunch but couldn't quite get a car buying deal to move as smoothly as I (naively) thought it would.

As the hours passed I revised my plan.  Beef O'Brady's restaurant was the closest thing to the Tax Collector's Office.
So guess what......




It was a good lunch and I had Doug and Tristan with me so I had good company as well.  The salad options were plentiful and I have to admit vacillating between a salad and a sandwich.  The burgers looked good too but the healthy aspects and lightness of a salad appealed.

OK, so here's the story.  This is news you can use (if you aren't already aware of this info).  I wanted to buy a used vehicle and loan it to our son.  This would give him the ability to find work and get the granddaughter into day care.  A 2007 Subaru Forester was acquired for a reasonable price.

This is not THE car but a photo I snagged off the Internet.  It is white and looks quite a bit like this one.  It's basically my car.  I bought it and the title is my name but I am loaning it out indefinitely.




So the money is exchanged, I get the title of the vehicle and head off to the tag office.  I actually had the tag from my old Scion xB (here is the Scion story) and hoped to use it, transfer the tag.  When I get there they ask if I brought the Forester in so they could verify the VIN.
That's a big, fat No.  Can't  attach the tag from the Scion because it's registered to another vehicle and attaching it to this car would be a felony.

I was instructed to call a police officer to meet me where we left the Forester and have the officer verify the VIN.  They gave me this long form the officer would fill out, then I bring it back to the tag office.  By the way, this is after waiting for a half hour at the tag office to begin with.  Then we decided to get lunch immediately.  Hence the salad.

Back we go to call the police, he fills out the form, I call and get insurance and arrange for proof to be faxed to the tag office.  Drive back to the tag office.

We wait, not as long this time, and the lady who "helps" me this time is awful.  She looks at the form and says it was altered so I can't use it.  The officer wrote his badge number on the line above, crossed it out and wrote his badge number on the correct line.  Are you kidding me?!  

The VIN wasn't altered, the signatures weren't altered....it was clearly a mistake by the officer and not a big mistake at that.  {deep sigh}

I asked if she would check with her supervisor and after deliberation, she decided it would be OK to accept the form. Oh. My.  You know what that was......it was a county worker knowing they have that little bit of control over someone.  The power to make you jump thorough hoops.  She took her time staring at the form  and giving the OK.

So, now I own a little Forester.

Here is the next lesson.

If you screw your gas cap on crooked the Check Engine light will eventually come on.  This in turn shuts down the ability to use cruise control.  I didn't know this....it's written on the gas cap.  See photo below of our gas cap.





Have you ever heard of such a thing?  Honestly, in all the years driving I never noticed that warning.  My husband's boss checked her car (a Mercedes) and that warning is on her gas cap too.  Tristan checked their Nissan Rogue and the warning is there.

Now that the Check Engine light is on the cruise doesn't work and now the AC isn't blowing as hard nor is very cold,  Tristan is going to take it to the seller tomorrow and he said he could reset the engine code.  (He's a mechanic).

Lessons:

1)  If you buy a car outright and have the title, plan on extra time at the tag office.

2) If something incidental is screwed up on a VIN identification form, politely ask if a supervisor could weigh in.

3) Always screw on your gas cap correctly being sure you have a reliable seal.  Read HERE about why this is important.

So....that's my story.  I'll be sure to update about the vehicle after the Check Engine Light is reset.  Hopefully we will have cruise control and AC again!

 Linking up to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday Series.



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