It was on May 6th when Theresa and I met the couple who had listed the Suburban on Facebook Marketplace. It had been sitting for awhile but the oil change that was last done in 2025 was only 1,500 miles into its life. I had become used to changing my own oil so my plan was to do it myself but then the move got in the way.
This truck of mine is a keeper, but I say that about all of my real estate purchases. We paid $4,500 for her, got the Maaco special paint job for $1,500, $750 for the A/C service and alignment, and $200 for the front wheel bearing. So for seven grand I'm in a one-owner, 120,000 miles, pretty and comfortable ride. And in our short time together she has treated us very well.
She's been back and forth to work at the hospital, up and down to Cape May, took the ride and caught the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard, and then the big test towing the boat down to Bluffton with 30,000 pounds of stuff in her rear end and inside the boat.
And then she made the voyage back up to Cape May with a hitch, no pun intended. I knew that she now needed an oil change so I looked up the closest place in Cape May which was Mavis Tire. Again, I've been used to getting my oil from Costco where 2-5 gallon jugs run about $30 and a filter from Auto Zone about $8. It's been a long while since I had to pay for an oil change and I knew the sick was coming. I also knew, at some point, the sales pitch about what they found would be coming. The upscale always accompanies service at these joints.
I made an 11 o'clock appointment and when I got there the guy said they were running behind. Before I handed over my keys I asked how much it was and he said $89.95. And then 20 minutes later she was up on the lift and in another twenty I was asked to come outside where he could, "Show me some things of concern". "Three of your four shocks are leaking and the rear rotor needs replacement". Just for shits and giggles I asked how much the shocks would be..." $850"..."Okay, no thanks".
When I made the appointment I screen shotted the below coupon which would save me a couple dollars and make me feel like I was getting over.
It was 80 minutes before I was called up to the confessional to check out and get my keys back. The same guy I was dealing with hit me with the total...."$129.95". I asked, "I thought it was $89.98?". Well that's for up to 5 quarts of oil and you need six and that's an additional $16.95 a quart and then there's the environmental fee and .......". I had no fight in me and showed him the coupon which brought it down to $109.95 and I was out the door.
It's amazing to me how reliant we are for everything in our lives. From oil changes, to cooking our own food, to doing our own projects around the house, to drop off service for our laundry, which we've seen is a thing while we're in between houses, to washing our own car, and even making our own coffees, we just pay and pay, with a card of course, and go on our merry way.
When I got back home I told Theresa that's one of the reasons I wanted to buy The Boat House, to change my own oil, and hers as well. It's just another example of the money we will save by having the other property. When we get back down south, and after we settle in by 2029, I'll be pulling her into the "garage" where I'll do my own oil change and replace those shocks that ".....some things of concern".