The first letter came last Tuesday, and it made me smile.
The next letter came yesterday, and it made me wince.
Let me explain.
I recently paid off my car loan for my 2017 Chevrolet Volt (“Lightning’s Girl”), and now the car is mine, lock stock and barrel.
And Tuesday, I received a letter from the credit union who oversaw my loan.
“Our Security interest in the vehicle mentioned below has been satisfied. Vehicle Year: 2017. Vehicle Make / Model: Chevrolet Volt. VIN #: … Owner(s): Chuck Miller. Keep this notice with the Title and when you sell the vehicle, give the transferred itle and this notice to the next owner.”
So … now it’s official. I can do whatever I want with Lightning’s Girl. Paint job? I could. Vinyl wrap? If I want. Bumper stickers? Depends on what the stickers say. I don’t think “Baby On Board” suits me, or any of those “If you can read this you’re too close” stickers. Man, if I had one of those old Storytown USA or Gaslight Village bumper stickers, however …
The second letter followed 24 hours later. It arrived in an envelope without a return address. I opened the envelope.
Yep. Should have expected this.
“We have checked our records and find that you are very close to your warranty expiring. Please contact us today and we can arrange for a new vehicle service warranty / contract for your [insert name of vehicle].”
Gotta love those public records-searching robots. They swarm in like flies on manure.
So … let me think about this. Should I invest in a new vehicle service contract for Lightning’s Girl … when Chevrolet’s warranty for this vehicle is for 15 years or 150,000 miles, and I’m only on year 9 of the car’s existence and am at 114,000 miles?
Yeah. The day I get involved in another vehicle service contract is the day I shave my face with a cheese grater. Rip, rip, in the trash you go, little solicitation letter.
I expect that ripping that letter up will send a signal for six other companies to cold-call me and cold-contact me about another vehicle service contract of sorts. Yeah. I’m not spending a fortune to some company whose vehicle service contract wouldn’t cover a co-pay on an air freshener.
But I guess this is what happens when you’re a newly-christened car owner.
And all that that entails.
Chuck The Writer 