I had a fun day yesterday.

I was planning to drive from D.C. to Indiana to pick up my dog from my parents’ house, then drive back today. About halfway through the trip, my car stopped accelerating, as if I had inadvertently popped in into neutral. A few seconds later, the acceleration returned. But about ten minutes later, it happened again, and the acceleration didn’t come back. It was a little scary, coasting down the Interstate with no acceleration, trying to maneuver between semis to get to the side of the road.

I made it to the shoulder of an exit ramp, and called Saab roadside assistance. The car wouldn’t start back up.

Problem is, I had my other dog with me, and because I was planning on a short trip, I didn’t bring a leash. So I’m sitting on the side of the road clutching my dog, waiting for a tow truck.

And my cell phone was dying.

About ninety minutes later, the tow truck arrives, and–per the Saab operator’s instructions–dropped me off at a Chevrolet dealer in St. Clairsville, Ohio. This made at least some sense, because GM bought Saab a few years ago.

But when I get to the dealer, the service manager tells me they don’t service Saabs. What’s more, he’s closing in five minutes, so I have to get my car out of his lot. Well at this point, my car not only doesn’t start, but having my flashers on for two hours has killed the battery. I can’t even get it out of park. I end up getting a jump just to give it enough juice to put it in neutral, and two guys from the shop help me push the car out of the lot, where I then call Saab back to ask for a second tow.

At this point, my dog and I are sitting in my car, with no battery, baking in the sun. I can’t leave to go get her some water, because the windows are down, and I can’t put them back up. Can’t tie her up anywhere, because I don’t have a leash. And if something goes wrong with the tow truck this time, I’m screwed, because my cell phone is dead.

Fortunately, the tow truck shows up. Problem is, the nearest Saab dealer is 90 minutes away, in the opposite direction. And my warranty only covers towing to the nearest dealer, not the nearest dealer in the direction I’m traveling. The tow truck driver was very nice about it. He even drove me to a nearby pet store, where I bought a leash, and where they let me charge my cell phone. From there, I called my dad, who generously agreed to come from Indianapolis to pick me up. When the pet store guy overheard me talking, he invited me to wait for my dad at the pet store. Which was a good thing, because I’m not sure where I could have waited otherwise with the dog.

So my dog Isabel and I spent the next 4 1/2 hours hanging out at a strip mall pet store. I now know more than I ever thought I would about the inner workings of retail pet supply.

I’m in Indiana now, at my parents’ house. Unfortunately, my car is somewhere an hour north of Pittsburgh. How and when I get back to my car is still up in the air.

Big thumbs-up to the St. Clairsville Pet Supply Company for their hospitality, and to Bill’s Towing, also in St. Clairsville. Big thumbs down to Saab’s roadside assistance.

I guess I’ll find out what’s wrong with my car on Monday.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 10:18 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.