The Element story

Lest you think we are always lucky, tonight I bring you the story of the Element.  It begins about two weeks ago with $700 on a brake repair.  Brakes are important, so okay.  The next week, a new problem developed with the ignition.  This problem had happened a year before, but we solved it by using a different key.  This time, though, a new key just wasn't going to cut it.  By Thursday, you could only get the key in the ignition with some force and a lot of jiggling.  I called our usual auto repair guy on Friday to see if he could fix it.  From the description I gave him over the phone, he suggested we try a local locksmith.  Brian gave them a call later in the day, but it turns out that they handle everything BUT Hondas. 

So far, we had been able to get the key in and so we figured we could make an appointment with the Mankato Honda dealership on Monday.  We dug out the spare key so that I could leave the key in the ignition when Maya and I went over to Kasson for Harvey and Natalie's birthday party on Saturday.

After dropping Brian off at Menards on Saturday at 7:30, Maya and I ran over to WalMart to pick up a few last minute things for the party.  We got back in the car a little before 8 and I tried for about 10 minutes to get the key in.  It was getting hot and the windows were rolled up so I had to keep the door open, which meant that there was the loud beeping sound that happens when you have a key in and a door open.  It was not fun.  We were stuck.

My first call was to Brian at Menards (since he doesn't carry his phone at work) to ask for advice, but he didn't have anything to add beyond what I had been doing.  My next call was to Mankato Honda.  They sent someone over within a few minutes.  He tried to get the key in, failed, loaded Maya and I up into his van, and called a tow truck for us (because, of course, I had just let our AAA membership expire last month to save some money!). 

Luckily, Mankato Honda had a fabulous waiting room, complete with a playroom for Maya. 

We spent a little over two hours there.  It took a while for the Element to get there because, as you might imagine, it was tough to tow a car from the front row of a WalMart on a busy Saturday morning.  Finally he came back with the news...the Ele needed a new part that had to be ordered...$550 and not ready until Tuesday.  Ugh!  But, he did get us a loaner to use until then.  Here's Maya chillin' with her new shades and pigtails in the back of the loaner.  She was a champ through the whole morning!