I am extremely tolerant of the noise from the mechanic shop next door because I know the owner would drop everything to help me if I had a problem with my truck — he’s done it before.

So after a solid year of having a noisy muffler and saying I was going to get the AC looked at, those items finally came to the top of my priority list. I’m driving a lot more now than I used to because I have a friend who needs lifts to pick up things and I have more gas money and free time to go exploring. It’d be great to take a Sunday drive to neighbourhood villages. Plus, having learned that my dog likes truck rides, I want the option to take her with me for the day or even just to a more walkable neighbourhood.

So I cornered my mechanic yesterday and he said to leave him my keys and that he’d have a look at my truck today. He got permission to do up to 3,000 pesos of work.

This afternoon, I heard him take off with the truck and Bonita ran out, then ran in, looking very concerned, LOL! A few hours later, the muffler issue was dealt with for a mere 350 pesos!!!

The AC doesn’t have quite a happy ending, but it is a happy ending. He said I need a whole new cooling system for around 4,000-5,000 pesos. That’s just not worth it when spring of 2021 is already looming and I’ll have to get my truck out of Mexico. He cleaned the whole cooling system, plugged a small leak, and added gas. So I do have AC now, but it could last me a day or the rest of my truck’s life — there’s no guarantee. But I bet that with the maintenance he’s done, just topping off the gas periodically will get me to 2021. All appendages crossed! So that was another 500 pesos.

So 850 pesos (57CAD/44USD) later, I now have a truck I’m once again excited to drive. It’s been a bit of a chore the last year because she’s been so noisy. And now, even though she’s looking quite battered, I won’t be afraid to show up at the DMV to apply for my driver’s license and do the road test with her. So, yup, that’s the next project — getting my Yucatán driver’s license!