On our drive up to the Sault, we stop at the Casino in St. Ignace to kind of do our warm up exercises on the slots before hitting Kewadin.
Upon leaving the casino Erika lowered her driver’s side window to tease me and could not get it to go back up. Uh oh!
Mind you, we are in the UP of Michigan in a lakeside town that pretty much shuts down in the winter AND it is the day after Thanksgiving.
As we drive aimlessly through the “town” (which is about as big as my Walmart store) we spot an open auto parts store. The only employee let us know that he wouldn’t be of much help couldn’t fix it and that no one else was open. He offered us plastic to cover the window – a BLACK plastic garbage bag! Erika declined and we continued to an ACE Hardware where she, Gretchen and Gordon worked some amazing magic with miracle shit household window insulating plastic. The good news is, the weather was beautiful, clear and slightly sunny, not raining or snowing. The plastic insulated aginst the wind on the freeway for the remaining 60 miles of our trip up to the Sault, but the noise was deafening.
When we arrived in the Sault we spotted a Goodyear open on our direct route to the casino. The Auto Center Pit Stop guys took such good care of us. They tried motor after motor after motor but still couldn’t fix it (the car is a 2001 Saturn). After almost 2 hours of trying, they did manage to get the window unstuck and in a closed position and taped to the door frame so it would stay up. All the time we were there, the owner/operator Stan kept us encouraged and yet realistic about the results that we may see. He helped other customers with their choices for tires for the wife and mother-in-law cars, and even discreetly handle an upset customer who ended up leaving with his tail between his legs. After all was said and done, he admitted defeat to the motor situation and charged Erika a measly $71. for TWO HOURS of labor! TWO HOURS! And he made a restaurant recommendation to us that turned out to be a good one (future post).
So, if you ever find yourself up in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. be sure to stop by Stan’s shop and say hi, if you’re happy with his service tell him the girls with the Saturn sent ya. If you’re not happy, tell him the guy with the tire iron sent ya.
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The follow-up: I took the car to the Saturn Dealer with the hopes that they could fix the window. They put in a new motor ($188) in about an hour and charged me more than $500. They also informed me that it still didn’t work but they would order a new switch for me for $228. I said no thanks.
Also, while I was there they brought me out to look under my car to see the transmission leak taking place. They said they would be happy to fix it for me for about $2200. I, again, said no thanks. Paid my $500 for a still broken window and went not so quietly on my way.
Later that day I stopped by our local shop that we have trusted since they told me to take a $500 repair job to the dealer and have it fixed under warranty. They took a look at my leak and said it was an axle bearing something or other and they could fix it for $100. I said fix it and went on my way. An hour later they called and the leak is fixed.
The window on the other hand it still in the upright and locked (taped) position. Since it is not imperative that I have a functioning window (thank you iZoom and EZPass) that trial can wait for another day.