Drive It 'Til The Wheels Fall Off... A Christmas Miracle!

2015 Lincoln MKX with All-wheel Drive.

On Friday I decided I would drive down to Chatham (60 miles) to buy a new (used) car. I knew I was driving my 16 year old car on borrowed time, but it just keeps going. I always said I would "drive it 'til the wheels fell off". I had seen a beauty in the Auto Trader and decided it was time to get rid of my trusty, or should I say, just old, 2002 Buick Rendezvous. Erin volunteered to come with me. What you will see next, you will NOT BELIEVE!

As we wheeled into the dealership, the rear passenger wheel decided to abandon ship.

Thank God it didn't separate while speeding down the highway at 110 km/hr only minutes earlier.

The whole wheel and brake assembly was only held on by the drive shaft, brake hose and upper ball joint. Ironically, we had earlier today, dropped off Erin's Elantra to have our mechanic repair... the ball joints.

The last 50 feet of our trip was unbelievable. I went back to look at the little bump that we went over as we turned into the dealership. There was really nothing there that would cause such a calamitous ending.

 I dragged the poor old Buick into a spot on the used car lot and we strolled into the dealership.

My bargaining power was completely destroyed as Santa and I contemplated my strategy. I decided not to mention the incident until after the test drive in the new car. My hands were still shaking. I had trouble concentrating on the new car.

As luck would have it, we arrived at the Staff Christmas Party for Victory Ford Lincoln. We were invited to a fabulous pot luck lunch with the workers at the dealership. Roast beef, scalloped potatoes, falafels and many other entrees followed by a marvelous desert table with a great selection.

Here I am conferring with the mechanical Santa.

Puts new meaning to "tire kicker".

Our sales rep Mark Jackson introduced us to his Sales Manager, Sa'id Hammoud and I finally explained the problem with "our trade-in". To my complete surprise, they were very understanding, and bent over backwards to put a deal together for us even though they knew...

... we really HAD to buy this car. It was that or take the bus home. Ha ha. They even offered me the scrap value of $200 for my "trade-in". They must have pitied me because they still gave me an even better deal on my new awd Lincoln MKX. This is truly a first-class dealership!

Christmas is a magical time of year and this little tale truly verifies this. Our story could have been much different if the sequence of events had changed, even a tiny bit. Disaster was was so close! Only the miracle of Christmas can explain the happy ending.

 As different as day and night! Ha ha. Goodbye old buddy.

Merry Christmas to all.
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