Foreign Service life is full of pros and cons. I'm reminded of some now as we struggle with our out-of-commission vehicle. Our Landcruiser has been sitting inert at "County Motors" for a couple of months now. Hazzard County? I don't know, but it's been a real saga, so I'll stick to the essentials.
The diagnosis by the folks at County is a malfunctioning "fuel pump assembly." Are they right? Who knows? It's tough to take it anywhere else for a second opinion as I've never seen a tow truck in this country. Just a bigger car and some rope. Anyway, I'm told that normally a fuel pump assembly could be fixed for a few (several?) hundred bucks in the U.S. Probably in a matter of days. In Nepal...not so much. First County tried to repair it. The test drive was a failure. Then we took the fuel pump assembly to the one Toyota dealership in town. I'm not sure if they even looked at the old one, but they said they could order a new one...for $8,000. I'm not exaggerating. So back to County. Elyse found a used version of this very particular Landcruiser fuel pump assembly on E-Bay for around $500. (Most on-line were actually about $2,000.) We waited 3 weeks for delivery from the UK, via Dulles, VA. It looked old and busted. County installed it. It doesn't work. (We asked the E-bay seller how to return it. He said it wouldn't be necessary as "It works." I beg to differ...my Nepali mechanic says it doesn't. And I have complete confidence in him.) Meanwhile County tells us the original fuel pump, unlike the E-bay one, "passes fuel." So if the fuel pump is pumping fuel, why doesn't my car run?!?! No answer. They want to send the pump to Singapore for "servicing." How much will that cost and how long will it take? That brain teaser was made 6 days ago. No response has been forthcoming.
Where, you might ask, are the "pros" in this story full of "cons"? Well, they are in our foreign service community. Over these many frustrating weeks, we have never been without wheels. At some point, someone is always out of the country, either for a training or well-deserved R&R. And without solicitation, someone has always offered their keys while away. Also, we live in the Embassy's apartment building, so our awesome neighbors have basically made their cars available. We have the pick of the litter. "Hmm, honey, should we drive the Nissan SUV, the Toyota hatchback, or the tiny Hyundai Santro? I think the Hyundai makes sense for that part of town, don't you?" Where else, and in what other lifestyle, can you do that? We look out for each other and depend on each other. We are each others' home away from home.
So wish us luck in this ordeal. We've heard of another good mechanic. It's the garage the Embassy uses across town, "Leon's Garage"...run by Prakash. We've been calling them for 3 days. One day they'll answer the phone, right? Right?
The diagnosis by the folks at County is a malfunctioning "fuel pump assembly." Are they right? Who knows? It's tough to take it anywhere else for a second opinion as I've never seen a tow truck in this country. Just a bigger car and some rope. Anyway, I'm told that normally a fuel pump assembly could be fixed for a few (several?) hundred bucks in the U.S. Probably in a matter of days. In Nepal...not so much. First County tried to repair it. The test drive was a failure. Then we took the fuel pump assembly to the one Toyota dealership in town. I'm not sure if they even looked at the old one, but they said they could order a new one...for $8,000. I'm not exaggerating. So back to County. Elyse found a used version of this very particular Landcruiser fuel pump assembly on E-Bay for around $500. (Most on-line were actually about $2,000.) We waited 3 weeks for delivery from the UK, via Dulles, VA. It looked old and busted. County installed it. It doesn't work. (We asked the E-bay seller how to return it. He said it wouldn't be necessary as "It works." I beg to differ...my Nepali mechanic says it doesn't. And I have complete confidence in him.) Meanwhile County tells us the original fuel pump, unlike the E-bay one, "passes fuel." So if the fuel pump is pumping fuel, why doesn't my car run?!?! No answer. They want to send the pump to Singapore for "servicing." How much will that cost and how long will it take? That brain teaser was made 6 days ago. No response has been forthcoming.
Where, you might ask, are the "pros" in this story full of "cons"? Well, they are in our foreign service community. Over these many frustrating weeks, we have never been without wheels. At some point, someone is always out of the country, either for a training or well-deserved R&R. And without solicitation, someone has always offered their keys while away. Also, we live in the Embassy's apartment building, so our awesome neighbors have basically made their cars available. We have the pick of the litter. "Hmm, honey, should we drive the Nissan SUV, the Toyota hatchback, or the tiny Hyundai Santro? I think the Hyundai makes sense for that part of town, don't you?" Where else, and in what other lifestyle, can you do that? We look out for each other and depend on each other. We are each others' home away from home.
So wish us luck in this ordeal. We've heard of another good mechanic. It's the garage the Embassy uses across town, "Leon's Garage"...run by Prakash. We've been calling them for 3 days. One day they'll answer the phone, right? Right?
