Kansas City, Borrowing a C300 and a Salvadorian Restaurant

One of the advantages of having teenagers is that we have permanent babysitters we trust.  That allows Aimee and me to run errands without the kids.  For example, on "Black Friday", we had a regular maintenance appointment for the Sprinter Van at Mercedes Benz of Kansas City (actually in a suburb called Overland Park).  One of the disadvantages of owning a Sprinter Van is that not all Mercedes dealerships work on them.  For us, that means regular trips to Kansas City.  Another disadvantage (probably the biggest) is that maintenance at Mercedes dealerships is expensive.

Aimee and I had noticed some squealing noises emanating from the engine bay.  It sounded to me like a loose belt.  After sitting in the waiting room for 20 or 30 minutes, Chris, the Sprinter service manager, told us it was going to take more than two hours, so we were eligible to borrow a complimentary loaner car as long as we stayed in KC.  Aimee's done this before, but it was my first time.  They let us borrow a brand new, black Mercedes C300.  Now I see why maintenance is so expensive!

Aimee and I decided to go to Target for some Christmas shopping (the Black Friday crowds were long gone) and find a Hispanic grocery store that had some seasoned achiote paste, because Aimee is making nacatamales again this Christmas (I'm spoiled!).

The Hispanic grocery store we found closest to the dealership via Google was Latino y Punto in Overland Park.  They had exactly what we searched for, so we decided to get lunch next.  We picked El Salvadoreño, a Salvadorean restaurant in Overland Park.  

The food and service were excellent.  I had carne asada...

This is from the restaurant's Facebook page

...and Aimee had pollo asado.  But what really caught my attention was this sign.

If you don't read Spanish, the sign says "This business is protected by the Blood of Christ.  The keys are in Heaven."  As if the food, wasn't enough, that really made me think of my mom!

Just before we finished eating, Chris called and told me that they needed to replace the accessories drive belt and the bracket that holds the tensioner pulley onto the engine block, but they didn't have a bracket on hand.  If the belt broke, the water pump wouldn't work, which would overheat and destroy the engine, so they would let us keep the C300 for the weekend and we'd have to return on Monday, when they'd get the bracket in and replace it.

We went back to the dealership to get some stuff out of the van and Chris showed me the problem with the van.  The bracket had been machined incorrectly, so it held the pulley at the wrong angle, and that caused the belt to rub on one side.  Tough luck, but at least Aimee gets to drive a C300 for the weekend.  I don't, because I'm still taking narcotics for shoulder pain.  She even took it to WalMart today!

Aimee moved our old Chevy Cavalier out of the garage to make room for the C300.  She said, "one day of driving the Mercedes and the Chevy really sucks!"  Frankly, it was a hooptie to begin with! 

Now we really look like Euro-snobs, with a German luxury car and a British motorcycle in the garage!  Well, I hope Aimee enjoys it while it lasts, because it goes back on Monday.  In the mean time, we can't even take the kids to church on Sunday!