A Tiburon Miracle?
I sometimes hate to call something in my life a miracle, for fear that someone who needs a, "real" miracle would wonder why they didn't get one, while I, in some more minor matter, did.
But here goes: I got into my Tiburon in my garage the other day and turned the key. It cranked over once, then made a very loud BANG. Immediately, the sound of the starting motor sounded different; almost as if the engine had lost compression.
I have been in the car business all my working life, and I know the sound of a car with major problems. When I was a sales manager at a Chrysler dealership in Oakville ON, I had to appraise potential trade-ins; check for blow-by (smoke coming out of the oil filler cap, indicating bad piston rings, listen for knocks in the engine - a deep knock indicated a serious problem, a lighter, "tap" was a minor issue, just a valve lifter, but nothing serious. In short, I know what a sick engine sounds like.
I tried several times over the next day or two to start it, all with the same result; it just wouldn't go. So I called AMA on Monday Morning and had it towed to the local dealership, fearing the worst. I even began searching Kijiji for $1000.00 cars, figuring that if it cost that much to fix the Tib, I would just buy another clunker. Monday night the service department called me saying they hadn't yet had a chance to get to it, but would tomorrow (Tuesday).
Tuesday morning I got a call from the service writer at the dealership, but I was on the road and couldn't understand the caller, other than to grasp that they were going to try again in the afternoon. I remember telling them, "It's not going to start," but, because I couldn't make out want she was saying, I just said, "Thank you very much," and disconnected.
I then proceeded to a lunch meeting I had with Amy Croy, our Alberta Youth Coach, at Café Rista, a great trendy coffee shop (and gracious host of my most recent Alpha, hence the commercial). We discussed a few things, and at the end of our lunch we both mentioned things that were on our hearts for prayer. I tossed in, "Well, you could pray for my car. I can't really afford another one." So, among our other prayers, for Alpha, for Youth, she tossed in a prayer for my car.
Before we left my cell phone rang. It was the service writer at the dealership. "Your car started every time we tried it," she said, "In fact, we can't get it not to start."
I was blown away. "What???" was all I could say. As I said before, I have spent just about all my working life selling, servicing or equipping vehicles. I KNOW what a car with problems sounds like, and my Tib was definitely one. So I have no other explanation than that God did something here.
That's all I can say.
Blessings,
John
But here goes: I got into my Tiburon in my garage the other day and turned the key. It cranked over once, then made a very loud BANG. Immediately, the sound of the starting motor sounded different; almost as if the engine had lost compression.
I have been in the car business all my working life, and I know the sound of a car with major problems. When I was a sales manager at a Chrysler dealership in Oakville ON, I had to appraise potential trade-ins; check for blow-by (smoke coming out of the oil filler cap, indicating bad piston rings, listen for knocks in the engine - a deep knock indicated a serious problem, a lighter, "tap" was a minor issue, just a valve lifter, but nothing serious. In short, I know what a sick engine sounds like.
I tried several times over the next day or two to start it, all with the same result; it just wouldn't go. So I called AMA on Monday Morning and had it towed to the local dealership, fearing the worst. I even began searching Kijiji for $1000.00 cars, figuring that if it cost that much to fix the Tib, I would just buy another clunker. Monday night the service department called me saying they hadn't yet had a chance to get to it, but would tomorrow (Tuesday).
Tuesday morning I got a call from the service writer at the dealership, but I was on the road and couldn't understand the caller, other than to grasp that they were going to try again in the afternoon. I remember telling them, "It's not going to start," but, because I couldn't make out want she was saying, I just said, "Thank you very much," and disconnected.
I then proceeded to a lunch meeting I had with Amy Croy, our Alberta Youth Coach, at Café Rista, a great trendy coffee shop (and gracious host of my most recent Alpha, hence the commercial). We discussed a few things, and at the end of our lunch we both mentioned things that were on our hearts for prayer. I tossed in, "Well, you could pray for my car. I can't really afford another one." So, among our other prayers, for Alpha, for Youth, she tossed in a prayer for my car.
Before we left my cell phone rang. It was the service writer at the dealership. "Your car started every time we tried it," she said, "In fact, we can't get it not to start."
I was blown away. "What???" was all I could say. As I said before, I have spent just about all my working life selling, servicing or equipping vehicles. I KNOW what a car with problems sounds like, and my Tib was definitely one. So I have no other explanation than that God did something here.
That's all I can say.
Blessings,
John
Comments
Post a Comment