We recently leased a new pickup truck to tow our horse trailer with because our old lemon (a 1998 Ford F-150) was not up to the task anymore. Because we don't believe in second chances where car salesmen are concerned (pretty much everything expensive on our old truck had been replaced or was in need of replacement by the time we traded it in), and Dodge trucks are terrible for fuel economy (we're talking large V8's here so I suppose 'economy' is a relative term in this context) we decided to go with GM. We picked a brand new 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD off the lot and got all the paperwork sorted out on a Friday. It was ready for pickup early the next week and I went over bubbling with anticipation, and that's where the fun began:

I had agreed with the salesman that their shop would quickly transfer the brake controller from our old truck into the new one. When I showed up he said they didn't really do that sort of thing that often, and that I would be better off going to an RV place down the road. So I had to go to the RV place to get the controller removed, and after that go back to the GM dealership.

When I drove the new truck off the lot I noticed the airbag light remained on. I was pretty sure that wasn't good, but not wanting to jump to conclusions, I went ahead to the RV shop for the brake controller installation and checked the user manual while I was waiting for the mechanic to do his thing. I went right back to the dealership and drove into the service entrance. After more than an HOUR of poking around, they decided the entire instrument cluster needed to be replaced. I was assured there was nothing wrong with the airbag, it was just the light that was malfunctioning.

Now I'm thinking: doesn't anybody check for these things before a new vehicle goes off to its new home? Doesn't anybody take a car for a spin to make sure everything is as it should be? The local mechanic I go to with our regular car does this even after a simple lube & filter job as a courtesy. Is it really too much to ask?