LETTER: A do-over could be quite costly

To the Telegram:

A couple of years ago, my husband and I purchased a used van. Several months ago, I took the van in for its regular 3,000-mile oil change. The manager of the garage called and said the mechanic had found some “ugly issues” with the van.

He stated the engine needed some major repair work. I agreed to let him service the van. He seemed to know what he was talking about. The repairs took longer and cost more than his estimate. Afterward, I found out the mechanic was actually junior technician.

About a month later, the van seemed to flutter and then would almost stall. Soon the van struggled to start. A day later as I was backing out of our garage the van died. I called the place where the van had been repaired. The manager said the “ugly issues” must have been worse than the “mechanic” realized. He said the previous owner must not have maintained the van properly. He told me to bring the van back and he would have the mechanic — junior technician — do the job over again. It would cost me another $900. He said the repairs would take time so I would be without the van for at least four weeks. So I brought the van back to the repair shop and hoped for a better outcome.

“Are you nuts?” you ask. “Why would you take it back and let a junior mechanic basically get on-the-job training on your van? Next time you might not be so lucky. Next time it might die when you are heading down the freeway.” you exclaim. You are right — oh so right.

Only the first part of this story is true. Instead of taking the van back to the original repair shop, my husband had it towed to a local mechanic with years of experience. This experienced mechanic had to do a major repair and found the error made by the junior mechanic. The van now runs smoothly and even gets better gas mileage.

The saga of my van really corresponds to the election this year. Like the junior technician, Barack Obama said he found some “ugly issues” in the economy he inherited. He did everything he could think of to fix it. His repair job took longer and cost more than he estimated. The economy has fluttered and almost stalled for the last 43 months. Now he wants a do-over. He tells us to be patient because it will take more time and that it will cost us more money.

I ask America: “Are you nuts?” Instead of a do-over for Obama, we need to have our economy turned over to an experienced businessman, Mitt Romney, who will fix the failure of the junior technician, make the necessary repairs so our economy will run smoothly again, and maybe we will even get better mileage out of the deal.

Sandy Johnson,

Lake Nebagamon

Tags: opinion, letters