Hello from rainy Central Florida.
I’ve been in Florida for over a month, but I find myself unexpectedly stuck in Central Florida. I say unexpected, but every time I have to make a mechanic’s appointment for the van, I know it could turn into a multi-week process. I thought this time would be no different, and the timeline is the same as always, but for once my van is in the hands of a capable diesel mechanic.
These professionals are few and far between and after visiting 6 Ford dealerships in 5 states, this is the first time I’ve met someone who I truly feel may fix my van problems. It’s not just that he shook my hand and looked me in the eye when he spoke (the bar is on the floor and yet so many mechanics and service techs don’t reach it!) – it’s that from the moment he opened his mouth, he proved himself knowledgable about the beast that is diesel vehicles.
You see when I bought Bevy, I knew there were many things I didn’t know. But I truly didn’t know how deep the well of not knowing ran and what I failed to understand is that diesel vehicles are a separate category entirely from gas cars. They have not one, not two, but multiple separate systems that gas vehicles don’t have and they require more than your average mechanic to fix. The past 10 months have been a crash course in owning a commercial diesel vehicle, for although Bevy is personal and residential, her weight and her systems qualify her as a commercial diesel vehicle.
See, I’m not a car person. I never have been. I don’t care about flashy cars, I’ve never wanted a brand new car, and as long as it runs, has AC and power windows, I’m good to go (admitting I had manual crank windows in my car makes me feel old but these requirements were set from owning vehicles that did not have these perks.) So when I bought Bevy, the differences between diesel and gas vehicles never crossed my mind. Sure, I need a different pump at the gas station, and not every station will have diesel, but otherwise it’s still a vehicle, right?
Yes and no. Bevy is 11 feet tall and weighs a hair shy of 5 tons (around 9,900 pounds). She requires fuel additives along with the diesel fuel for proper fuel system lubrication, she has fuel air filters that need to be changed regularly and an entire diesel exhaust system for reducing pollutants. She has engine block heaters that need to be plugged in during cold weather and the build-out in the van means we’re always towing. Diesel engines are bigger and more complicated than those of a gas-powered sedan and it’s taken me nearly a year and $10,000 in repairs to truly appreciate these differences.
Once I met Patrick (the diesel mechanic) I realized how unqualified every other mechanic has been to work on my vehicle. I assumed that going to a dealership, Ford would tell me what I needed to know and get the right people to work on my van… and you know what they say about assuming. Patrick took me through past vehicles he’s worked on with similar issues, questioned a few “obvious” fixes no one else had recommended, and carefully went through my repair history. It was the difference between going to a general practitioner doctor and a specialist – night and day.
It took Patrick a full day to identify the possible causes of my issues. This resets the repair process, which goes: diagnostics, ordering parts, and repair. Rinse and repeat as dash lights appear. This was my second appointment at this specific dealership, and while I’m not thrilled to go back for a third, I am pleased to finally have a mechanic I can trust.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that this next appointment fixes the problem and I can move on from Central Florida. It’s not a terrible place to spend December and January, but the Orlando area is densely populated and the Planet Fitness parking lots are loud. I want to move on into the woods again, rural areas where there are more animals than people. I want to get to the panhandle and keep going, visiting the Gulf Coast in other Southern states.
But in the meantime, I’ll count my blessings that the coast is near, the sun is warm, and snow is a distant memory.
