Key West to Miami (with another car issue)

This was not my best morning. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was disappointed in this hotel. It was not the most comfortable room for a variety of reasons, and the walls were paper thin. And Key West is a bit of a party town. As well, sunset (regardless of any photo-op) is getting later and later. So I was a bit short on sleep, somewhat annoyed with the hotel, and glad to leave. I really did enjoy Key West, just not this hotel. I cannot recommend the Southernmost Inn . Do be careful if you book something, though, as EVERYTHING in Key West has “Southernmost” in the name.

I was looking for reasonably priced gas on the way back up. As you might expect, prices are a bit elevated in the Keys, especially the further South you go. Still under $4.00/gallon, but I did not want to overpay. I stopped at the first gas station I saw that was under $3.50. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and it was quite crowded. In trying to avoid a large camper van, I hit my front right bumper on the cement piling at the bottom of a sign. Although I was going probably 3 MPH, I could tell it was a hard hit. I gave up on that gas station, but as I drove away, I saw the now too-familiar VSC family of lights go on and knew I had done something bad. I was not sure how how serious it was. I saw a sign on the next block advertising auto service. It was clearly a local place, with trucks and boats parked out front, and pretty run down. Nevertheless, I stopped to ask them to take a quick look. Roy immediately came out with his portable diagnostic computer and checked it out. He said that the only thing the diagnostic showed was a sensor issue with the steering wheel. He thought it should be OK to drive to Miami, where I had anyway planned to take it to the Toyota Dealer there. I gave him a 20 for his trouble which was the right thing to do for the peace of mind to drive another few hours. I did notice that the steering wheel was canted, which was a clue that something was definitely wrong.

It seems that I am getting the tour of Toyota dealers around the country. I called and explained the situation to Aaron, the rep who answered the phone at the North Miami Toyota Dealer , and he said to bring it in as soon as I arrived in town. Fortunately it was a relatively short trip and I drove in to the service center around 1:30. He immediately showed me that the car looked tilted and suspected a suspension problem. Ugh - $$$$$$. I decided not to panic until we knew exactly what was the problem. After about an hour and a half he had relatively good news for me. The tire had taken most of the brunt of the collision and I had damaged the rod tie ends and knocked the tire out of alignment. They are fixing it for me while I wait, for 100s rather than 1000s of $$$$. I’ll still get to my hotel around 5:00. He also said that for a car with 180K miles, it was in fantastic shape otherwise. That was good news. I am impressed with yet another Toyota dealer. And I am using the waiting time to do some trip planning and write this blog. All in all, I have been lucky once again. I just hope my luck holds for the rest of the trip as I still have 3/4 of the year to go. Car, computer, camera - those are the vulnerabilities.

Ironically, my friend J had recommended that I purchase a FIXD consumer diagnostic sensor that can help diagnose car problems. I had ordered, but not received it yet. Hopefully it is a preventative purchase that will never be used. 

I was very glad to finally arrive at the Aloft Miami - Bricknell . My room on the 14th floor has a balcony from which I gratefully watched the sunset as I sipped a glass of wine.

Tomorrow I will explore Miami.