Carnapped

A student of mine had her car held hostage (actually, the term used was carnapped) last week. This vehicle has been having problems since she bought it and she and her friends are no strangers to the garage, but they've never experienced something quite like this!

I guess they were in Toronto when the car broke down. (The details are fuzzy; remember, I’m working in a less-than-optimal language situation.) Anyway, it wouldn’t work. Apparently in their country, insurance companies also take care of the stuff that CAA is responsible for here. Unfortunately no one had told them about CAA Plus - which would have towed them back to Welland - so they had the car brought to the nearest garage. The details are really sparse here but somehow they ended up back in Welland and the car remained in TO and as far as they knew it would cost $500 and 1 day to fix the problem. Well, 4 days and $1400. later, they got the car back home for the remaining repairs.

While stories of people talking advantage of international students (and people handicapped in general) really anger me, somehow I wasn’t surprised to hear that they had been screwed by a mechanic. What does it say about me that I expect to have mechanics take advantage of my ignorance when it comes to anything under the hood? But I don’t think I’m alone. I think there is a general distrust of garages. They do have incredible power, after all: the power of knowledge and skill. I know I could be convinced that something on my car needed to be fixed which I am incapable of fixing myself. That scares me.

But the more I thought about this, the more I began to believe that there may be something deeper here. The student who was telling me this story said that in his country, mechanics are honest. He says it’s because there are so many of them that competition is high. To lose the trust of one’s customers would end in the loss of his business. I haven't heard about a mechanic shortage lately. Why should this not also be the case in Canada?

Personally, I think "they" (conspiracy theories rarely name the cause) want us to live in fear and distrust of the evil mechanic. It encourages the average, unknowledgeable consumer to buy a new car every time the warranty runs out or the vehicle begins to get tired. It drives our economy. I really hope I'm wrong, but why not? "They" are responsible for all sorts of things!

I've always said I wanted to marry a mechanic. That way I'd at least have one that I could trust (and not have to pay). That'll show "them."