OT-Road Service

[Avery Todd]

Well, since we're talking vehicles......

A tech/rebuilder friend of mine recently bought a Honda Element and loves it.
Except for looking like a square box on wheels, it seems to work great for a
piano tech. She carries grand keyboards along will all the tools needed to do
a job.

If I was going to buy a new vehicle, I think I'd definitely consider it.

Avery

At 03:48 PM 11/1/04, you wrote:
>At 07:49 AM 10/27/04 -0500, Barbara wrote:
>
>>I'm having a hard time deciding on a new-to-me vehicle.  I've had station 
>>wagons and sedans.  ...
>
>Exactly one year ago (last week!) I bought a year-old Chrysler PT Cruiser 
>and so far I've found that it's almost the ideal vehicle for a piano 
>tuner. I've always said that's what the "PT" really stands for anyway. 
>Mine, in dark plum pearl topcoat, had 32K easy Kms on it when I bought it 
>(about 20K miles) and was $10K CDN less than the price of a new vehicle 
>with the same equipment. Other than a slightly-pitted windshield and a few 
>rock chips on the front it was like a brand-new car.
>
>The PT seems to be an excellent piano service vehicle if you don't need a 
>large van. I have all my tools in small individual plastic tool boxes for 
>each job plus a small parts box, and everything except the vacuum cleaner 
>fits out of sight under the lowest position of the parcel shelf. My tuning 
>case fits under the driver's seat. With the shelf in that position and 
>half the back seat folded down, there's enough flat surface for a concert 
>grand keyboard to slide right in. If you need lots of room the back seats 
>come out easily, but I've never had to do that except to clean it. It came 
>with a decent stereo with CD and cassette and has power door locks with a 
>remote as well as power windows and powered mirrors. It also came with the 
>"touring" package, with 16 inch wheels and slightly beefed-up suspension 
>so it handles very well.
>
>Gas mileage isn't wonderful at about 24 mpg with the auto transmission, 
>but a K&N air filter boosts that slightly as it does in any vehicle. I 
>highly recommend them anyway as they'll last longer than the vehicle in 
>most cases.
>
>Some people find the PT a little unnerving to drive because of the "blind 
>spot", but you soon get used to using the mirrors. The car is short enough 
>that it's extremely easy to park, and it's very easy to get in and out of 
>it. The standard engine runs on regular unleaded gasoline, unlike the 
>Turbo which requires premium gas. It has plenty of pep for me though.
>
>One other thing that's worth noting about the PT is that it's classed 
>either as a "van" as they do here in Canada or as a light truck, so 
>insurance is usually a little cheaper than it is with a sedan. I suspect 
>the convertible version, which isn't as practical as a service vehicle, 
>would be a little more to insure, especially with the Turbo option.
>
>It appears to be a very reliable vehicle. In the last year other than oil 
>changes and the K&N air filter I've spent less than $5 on it for one brake 
>light bulb and it's had one spark plug wire replaced under warranty. 
>Compared to my last car, a ten-year-old Ford Taurus wagon which cost me 
>more than two weeks work and a couple of thousand dollars in repairs in 
>the year I drove it before the engine blew up, the PT has been extremely good.
>
>I have a professionally lettered sign on the back window with my company 
>name, phone number and web site address on it and the sign, which only 
>cost $80, has paid for itself many times over. Almost every week I get a 
>call from someone who has seen the car in their neighbourhood and 
>sometimes I even get calls from people driving behind me, which was how I 
>found out the brake light didn't work.. While they're becoming quite 
>common, it's still an interesting enough looking vehicle that I get a lot 
>of comments about it from customers and even perfect strangers in parking lots.
>
>I have two negative comments on the car though. First is that it's a 
>little hard to keep clean on the outside. Automatic car washes tend to 
>miss some parts of it due to the shape, and the inside door sills tend to 
>get very dirty and need to be cleaned separately. Hand-washing the car, 
>preferably at a car wash is required to keep it sparkling clean. The other 
>is the design of the instrument panel. With sunglasses on it can be a 
>little difficult to read the white-faced speedometer under some 
>conditions, but I've gotten used to that and it doesn't really bother me 
>anymore.
>
>Now... if they'd come out with the panel-truck version I have in die-cast 
>models it would be even more ideal, though its use as a passenger car 
>might be more limited. There is an after-market panel conversion kit 
>available if someone wanted to go to that amount of trouble though.
>
>If anyone has any questions about it I'd be pleased to answer them. Email 
>me privately if you like, or join us on the Tuesday night chat.
>
>                         John Musselwhite, RPT
>
>
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