First Tow Truck Ride

As promised, here is the crazy story of when I tried to rent a car a few days ago.

It was about 10:15 at night, when my friend, Hillary, calls me, and tells me she's starving after her dance practice. We thought it'd be nice to go see each other for just a little bit before we each left our own ways for Spring Break.

She looked up the rental car that was by her apartment, but it was being used. I told her I'd just get the one by my apartment, and that I'd be over to pick her up soon. No problem, right?

Let me preface a little anxiety I had before getting into the car. Hillary and I have rented this car twice before. It's a keyless Hyundai Sonata. Pretty slick, right? Yeah, if it's not a rental car. The first time we tried renting it, the car wouldn't even start. It was blinking like crazy in the inside, telling us to "insert key", even though there is NO keyhole we could find. Also, apparently if you keep trying to start a keyless car and it doesn't start after a few tries, the car, being super smart, thinks that you're trying to steal it, and will completely shut down. And then you're completely out of luck. That's what happened the first time we tried renting it, and then we just transferred to the car by Hillary's apartment.

The second time we rented that car, everything was smooth sailing. No problems, whatsoever.

I thought this time that we were renting, it would be like the second time. I knew how to start the car, I knew it's little quirks, whatever.

So, I held my breath a little bit before I started the car, praying that it would start, and I wouldn't have a mess with Enterprise like our first time renting it. It started, and I was able to relax and go get Hillary.

We thought we'd try Sonic, partially because I don't think I've ever had anything from there, and because it was pretty much the only place open that late at night. We pull up to a stall, and they shut all the lights off to the stalls, and we couldn't order. So, we tried seeing if the drive-thru was open.

Nope.

We then laughed at our luck, and decided to go to Wendy's. We ordered our food in the drive-thru, and since I had a frosty, we thought it'd be best if we ate in a parking lot instead of adding miles to pay for if we drove around.

I drove across the street to a well-lit parking lot, and Hillary and I sat and talked and ate our food for a little bit. Important: I turned the car off as we ate, so that it wasn't just running for half an hour.

About 30 minutes later, it was time to start heading back to drop Hillary off, and return the car to its spot. I pushed the "start engine" button, and it lit up, as if I turned the battery on, but the car was not turning on. At all. After a few tries, like I mentioned earlier, the car just shut off completely, and wouldn't even light up. Headlights wouldn't work. Locks weren't working. It was pretty weird.

It had been about 5 minutes of me trying to start the car, and having it give up on me, that I decided to call Enterprise, and tell them my situation. The people I talked to were very nice...but not very helpful. They told me to try starting the car again, this time doing something I had already been trying the entire time (pushing the brake, turning the parking brake on and off, exiting the car and locking and unlocking it, etc.).

Now it's been about 20 minutes since being on the phone with the representative, and we are past our reservation time. The representative then says, "I know. The car thinks you're trying to steal it since it's not your reservation time anymore. I'll just extend your reservation for another hour--that's the minimum amount I can extend it by." I agree, simply because there is absolutely nothing else we can do at that moment.

After another 20 or so minutes of me trying not to be frustrated, and a little scared being alone in a parking lot at night with a car that isn't working, the representative tells me she thinks the battery is dead, and talks to the mechanic for about 10 minutes. We now are 15 minutes past midnight, and I'm getting pretty tired of dealing with people that aren't getting me anywhere. (Maybe this is my lesson for learning patience??)

I finally get off hold, and the representative is back, also with the mechanic on the line. "Hi, I'm _____ from AAA. I just have some routine questions for you before we can release emergency dispatch roadside assistance." I answer the questions, like, "Were you in an accident? Are you on the road, in a parking lot, etc? How many passengers are with you?" I really just wanted to tell him, "Listen! All I did was turn the car off, and when I went to turn the car on, it wouldn't start. That's it. No accident, I'm cold, I'm tired, I'm sick of rental cars, I just want to be back at my apartment!"

After all the questions, he says, "Hmmm. I'm thinking it's your battery that's dead." Really? Anyone else want to pitch in on the dead battery hypothesis? I was tired of people guessing it was the battery, but not sending help.

FINALLY, he says, "Alright, Brittany, we've alerted emergency dispatch roadside assistance, and we have a vehicle coming to help you. It should be there in, oh, I'd say about 45 minutes. Stay within sight of your vehicle, so that you are there when dispatch gets there."

Awesome....that would have landed dispatch getting there at about 1:00 in the morning. Thankfully, the tow truck pulls up about 25 minutes after that phone call, so he was 20 minutes early. We relayed all the information and scenario to him again, and thankfully, he was one of the nicest and most sincere people I have ever met. Thank you Tyler. You saved our lives, seriously.

We popped the hood to jump the battery, and...couldn't find a battery. It's a hybrid, so apparently the battery lives in the trunk. Which, awesome sauce, wouldn't unlock since the car thinks we're still trying to steal it. Why the hood pops and the trunk doesn't is beyond me. There's also no way to open the trunk with the little key that comes out of the remote, but the keyhole is in the trunk.

I'm sorry, but nothing about this car makes sense. :)

Tyler could tell we were freezing after being in a car that wasn't on for an hour and a half, so he asked if we'd like to sit in his truck and warm up. We gladly accepted, and sat in the truck, where it was SO warm. It felt so nice! He stayed out and finally got the trunk to open up, hooked the jumper cables up to the battery, and the car finally lit up. It still wouldn't turn on, but at least there was battery power. He tried turning it on to get it to go into neutral, but, the car shut down again, thinking we were stealing it again. We had to wait for a while so it reset, and finally got the car to light up (like we turned the battery on), and he was actually able to move it into neutral, which he said was lucky, because with the same models he's worked with, the car won't shift if it's thinking you're stealing it.

ANYWAYS, we sit in the truck, waiting for clearance to tow the car from Enterprise and AAA. If it was my personal car, things would have been so much faster. He could just tow it to the shop. Since it was a rental car, we had to get all these clearances. After about 45 minutes, it's now about 2:15 in the morning, and we get clearance to tow the car back to it's parking spot.

Tyler got the car onto the flatbed of the truck, and I thought it was pretty slick. I've never been in a tow truck before, especially as a car is being loaded onto it, and it almost felt like we were in a rollercoaster, haha. I now wasn't worried, at least as much, because I knew we were okay. We were taking care of the car, Hillary and I were somewhere warm, and our tow truck driver wasn't creepy.

We get the car back to its spot in the parking lot, and Tyler tells us that he can't get the car to lock. He was thankfully able to shift it back to park, but nothing else was working. Car wouldn't start, lock/unlock, headlights wouldn't turn on--nothing.

Since we both live close to where the rental car was, and it was really late, Tyler just dropped us off at our apartment complexes, which I am so thankful for.

The next day, I had several phone calls from Enterprise, asking me about the situation, and to just relay the situation again. It was so overwhelming, just answering the same questions over and over again, but I think everything is fixed and done with now.

So, long story short, don't buy keyless hybrid cars. At least Hyundai sonatas. From what Tyler said, those types of keyless cars, as well as hybrids are the most frustrating models that he's ever had to work with.

In the end, I'm okay. Hillary is okay. The car is...well, hopefully starting for people other than me.

And that's what matters.

Live. Love. Laugh. Grow.