Does anybody read these?

The saga continues

Yesterday I was reminded, once again, why I just go to the dealership and buy new cars.

Of course, I was reminded of this while I was driving my certified pre-owned vehicle.

My car runs fine. Even though the white paint is merciless when it comes to dirt, it runs just fine. In fact, it's like riding on a cloud.

But where on God's green earth did my XM radio go?

There are some conflicting reports on whether or not the 2008 HHR came with XM radio standard. However, there are not conflicting reports on the following things: 1) It was included with the optional Pioneer seven-speaker, premium sound system, which my car has; and 2) I asked Chad (the shady used-car salesman) if it had it and he said yes, it did. In fact, he even gave me a little flier called "How to activate your XM radio on your pre-owned vehicle."

And that's how I found out that it's missing.

While we were on our big road trip to West Tennessee for Shelby's beauty pageant (more on that later), I said "Hey, let's go ahead and activate our XM while we're in the car." Chris turned on the radio, and I grabbed Chad's flier and my VISA card.

So, I call and I talk to this guy at first. He asks me what my radio ID is. I tell him I don't know, and he tells me how to find it. I tell him that when I hit band the XM doesn't come up, but it does come up when I hit a different button on my radio.

He said nothing and put me on hold. Next thing I know, there's a lady on the line and she's asking for my XM radio ID. I tell her the same thing I told him and asked if she could look it up by my VIN number.

That's when she tells me (you may want to grab a chair if you're not on one) that NO ONE INSTALLED THE XM RECEIVER INSIDE MY DASHBOARD.

Yep, that's right. My car has no XM receiver. This means that yet another option that I was promised is not on this boondoggle of a vehicle. It's supposed to have an XM receiver, so I'm not really sure where it's gone.

One thing's for sure, I'm calling Chad today and we'll see if he can find the receiver. I sure hope so, because I'm starting to get grumpy. Well, that and the fact that I'm still waiting for them to close out this purchase and if they haven't done it by my 15-day conditional sale period, they might just find themselves with a new used car. Mostly because they haven't given me the check to pay off the old one (the real reason I purchased this car), and if they don't do it before the 18th, my insurance payment will be outrageous.

So, the mystery continues. And needless to say, if Generous Motors makes it out of their mess alive, my next car will not be a certified pre-owned Chevrolet. I'll be going back to getting new ones. I thought this made sense on paper, but I'm not sure used cars ever make sense when you can get a new one with the employee discount and cash back.

It doesn't sound like it'd be hard to get a receiver inside the dash since the radio is equipped for an XM signal. I don't know if mentioned it, but about a year ago I bought a receiver for the blue car, and I never put it in because of the wires. I can't deal with all the wires for an after-market system. That's why I deliberately asked for it this time. I don't know if XM will be around for six more years, but if you buy a new car, why wouldn't you get it? Especially when it doesn't cost extra. Hello?!?

Of course, I have a suspicion the person who bought my car might've taken it out. Because I found the papers in the glove box where they had the OnStar taken out. I am thinking at this point, whoever it was did not like monthly fees.

posted by Laura at 9:24 AM