What's That Noise?

With the year coming to a close, I thought it might be fun to keep in tradition of many television stations and news publications by offering you the top Hardman Car Company story of 2009.

In the car business we have the opportunity to meet all kinds of colorful people. Sonny and Eric often find themselves in situations unlike any other; pleasing customers, cleaning cars, fixing problems, and creating stories. This year the top story beat out stories of test drives turned to drug deals and Range Rover's driving through garage doors. It is a funny tale that teaches things are not always what they seem.

Uncle Jim is the youngest in Sonny's mom's family. A tall, stout man with a love of the Yankees and knowledge of hundreds of trivial facts. He and his wife, Aunt Debbie, visited Sonny at the dealership sometime last year. They wanted to trade in their Honda Odessy mini van. Their four children were all grown now and they had little need for the extra room. They looked for a nice four door sedan and with Sonny's help decided on a Nissan Maxima. Happy with the vehicle and excited about the price, Uncle Jim and Aunt Debbie drove home.

Early this year, Sonny got a phone call from his Uncle. Uncle Jim explained his recent frustration with his new vehicle. Apparently in the past week or so, it had started making an awful growling sound every time he turned to the right. The sound had been so troublesome, he took it to his mechanic who confirmed that there was most definitely something wrong. They drove in circles at a local parking lot for almost a half hour, hearing the grinding sound every time. The mechanic was sure there was something very wrong, no car could be healthy with such a horrific growl coming from it. Not knowing exactly what it could be, he scheduled an appointment for uncle Jim to bring in the car the following week. They would put it up on a lift and begin taking it apart in order to diagnose the problem.

A few days after the mechanic's visit, uncle Jim, aunt Debbie, their daughter Megan, and granddaughter were running errands around town. The noise was as horrific as ever, grinding and growling every right turn they made. As they drove, Megan recognized the sound as oddly familiar. Knowing she had heard something like it before she began looking around the back seat for its source. She succeeded when she spotted her nephew's toy fire engine stuck under the driver's chair. Every time the car turned to the right, it would shift just enough to transform the engine to a growling Godzilla toy. As the car turned back, pressure would be taken off the toy and turn off the growl. Sonny laughed along with the family and the mechanic when they all found that the source of the infamous growl was only a child's play toy.




I hope this new year brings all of us stories that we can laugh and learn from. Happy New Year!

The Greatest Gifts...

The days until Christmas are closing in and small magical moments of excitement are popping up with them. As presents under the tree grow, my children's faces glow brighter with anticipation of what is inside. At dinner last night Grayson asked, "Mom, have you noticed that the days seem to go by so fast during the rest of the year, but around Christmas they are moving in slow motion?"

A perspective quite opposite of my own adult view, where the days seem to move in fast forward during the holiday season. His comment helped me remember how I felt as a child though. I remember nightly counting the festively wrapped packages under our tree with my siblings. We would make piles for each of us and compare how many and what sizes we had. We would speculate and dream about what great item lay inside. One year, a Cabbage Patch doll was all I hoped for. When Santa delivered, I was ecstatic to find it, reading his enclosed adoption papers and quickly signing my name as the mother of the little boy doll.

As a teenager, one of the most exciting Christmas presents opened was not even my own. My older brother was given a large box Christmas morning. At our house, not only Santa delivered gifts but a whole collection of his associates did also. The gift tag read, To: Ryan From: George, Santa's mechanic who recently replaced the entire sleigh engine for increased speed and greater reliability. Knowing the gift had something to do with a car, Ryan unwrapped the large box to find a smaller wrapped box inside. The pattern continued until 5 boxes were unwrapped with the final small one containing a single key.

I think I screamed louder than he did as we ran out the door into the dark December morning in search of a new car. Nine children in matching pajamas filing down the sidewalk to find a new/used Ford Escort waiting for my brother. For me, this gift meant no more embarrassing rides to school in our old 15 passenger van and my self imposed personal humiliation in riding in it over.


On Monday night I was driving home from my Grandmother's 93rd Birthday/Christmas party and Sonny was still at work. He was helping a customer, giddy with excitement over their new car. Coming from Southern Utah, they arrived late- around 10:30 PM in order to beat the next day's snow storm. They had purchased a Jaguar from us that we had sold on ebay. The ending auction price was a phenomenal deal and the customer knew it. They could hardly wait to pick up their car! Signing papers with smiles on their faces all they could say was, "I can't believe how great this is!" So happy in fact, they drove off the lot on fumes, not wanting Sonny to put a cent of gas in it, feeling almost guilty about their low purchase price.



Now, as a parent, I anticipate my own presents very little. What I anticipate are the reactions of my children when they open theirs. I envision their excitement as they tear the paper from their gifts and find (hopefully) what they've been waiting for. The smiles on their faces are what make the gifts so grand.

I wonder how this Christmas excitement will evolve as I continue to grow older? I reflect on my Grandmother's reactions the other night. She was given many gifts, but the one that brought tears to her eyes were the people in her home helping her celebrate. At 93 she has no want for material things, it was the company of family that brought her most excellent gift.



Grandma Dora Curtis


With Christmas almost here, watch for that little spark that jumps in your chest with gift getting and giving excitement. Whether it be a toy doll, a new car, a smile on your children's faces or the company of others, I truly hope this season brings you one of your greatest gifts.

Snowy Service

"AHH, Grayson hit me!!" Asher yelled while holding his cold, pink nose with woolly mitten covered hands. Tears were falling. An apologetic older brother stood close by with a broken children's snow shovel that we've "borrowed" indefinitely from the neighbor.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. I can't help it- the wind keeps grabbing the snow and making me do it." I glared at Gray, dropped my adult snow shovel, and crouched down to look at Asher's face.
"It looks okay, I bet you'll be just fine in a little bit." I told him while prying away his hands from the injured spot. "I know it hurts honey, but Grayson really didn't mean to do it."
Asher finally looked up at me and started crying harder. "Is it bleeding?!"
"No."
"Well yours is!"
I thought I felt something.

On Saturday morning there was a fresh layer of snow covering the yard, driveway and sidewalks. With Sonny already out the door and cleaning up the car lot, I knew it was up to me and the kids to get the snow moved from the walkways. Still dressed in pajamas, the boys were happy to go outside in the new winter wonderland. I handed each of them a toy shovel or rake, grabbed the big shovel myself and headed out the door.

I thought this would be a good opportunity for them to do some service. One of my goals for the month was to do extra service and to give my children service opportunites. Earlier that week we put some secret Santa baskets together for a few families that could use some extra help. The kids were pretty excited with gathering everything and wrapping the packages, but after we had to drive for almost an hour to hit all three houses, they were done with secret Santa. In fact the last one I did by myself. I snuck the presents onto the doorstep, rang the bell and narrowly escaped getting caught by sliding on my bum behind a tree. The kids sat in the car and watched "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer". Cranky kids at the end of the night, didn't seem like a service experience success. Hopefully scooping snow would be better.

Grayson quickly started shoveling the front sidewalk, anxious to do the work, but without much training. He scooped the snow forward and then threw the shovel up in the air- making the newly scooped snow fly everywhere. I just let him enjoy himself and was glad he was out trying to help. Until, one of his scoops flew up into my face. It nailed me on my nose, causing me to yell out a short- GRAYSON!- and then place my tear streaked face in my hands. It hurt, but being strong, as all mothers must do when they actually want to scream and yell and pout just like a child, I told him "it's okay" and continued.

I didn't check my face until Asher said, "Well yours is!" A small gash opened the skin on my nose, and a few scratches by my eye and mouth finished off my want to share service with them. It was time to go inside. I was frustrated. My month's goal was not working out so well.

Sunday morning greeted us with even more snow. Inches falling down by the second, making my efforts of the previous day meaningless. We bundled up and jumped in the car (grateful for a 4wheel drive) to attend church and worry about the snow later. It was on our way home when I saw a group of six teenage boys, armed with snow shovels, that I felt a renewed effort to pursue my goal. With smiles on their faces, these boys chose to spend their Sunday afternoon scooping people's driveways. Braving the cold weather to serve others instead of taking naps and watching football games. As I watched them, I realized that in about 8 years, one of those boys could be my Grayson.

With tears in my eyes once again, I asked Grayson what service we should do today. He quickly responded, "I need to set the table for you mom, and I think I'll smile at a stranger."

"Sounds great." I gave him a kiss on the cheek as Sonny walked out the door. Bundled in snow gear, he was ready to join the senior class president and plow the neighborhood's driveways.

Relax!!

I love cookies. I make them at least two to three times a week. So, lucky for me, on Saturday my dear friend Amber and I attended a Christmas cookie baking class. We sat in a perfectly modern stainless steel teaching kitchen to watch chef Bob prepare four delicious cookie recipes. He shared his cooking knowledge, baking secrets, and samples of his perfect treats with us before he let us loose to try making them on our own. At our first station, the ingredients were laid out, the high tech mixers ready to use, the oven was preheated, and we were set. Following chef Bob's recipe; we mixed the ingredients, shaped the dough, put them in the oven and produced a hard pile of sugar and oatmeal. Our cookies were nothing like the ones from the demonstration. Sadly, we threw away the rest of the dough and started over.


What had gone wrong? I followed the recipe, the one chef Bob said would work! He lied to me! I paid for his services to teach me to bake wonderful cookies, but he did not deliver, right? I wondered if I should yell at him. I could tell him he had a horrible business, he had no right to advertise his skills and that I would report him to the commission of cooking schools. Then maybe I could storm off and pout.

Obviously this reaction from someone in a cooking class is completely out of line. After careful examination of my dough I learned I had accidentally doubled the butter in the recipe. Making the disastrous turn out of our cookies my fault.

Unfortunately, customer reactions like this are a little more common in the used car industry.

Let me share a story with you.

On Tuesday, a gentleman came into the dealership to purchase a 1996 Beretta. It was a trade-in we'd had for a week or so and was a good little car for the price. After knocking $600.00 off the sticker, the gentleman signed all of his paperwork, handed over a check and drove off under the afternoon sun.



That night, a phone call came from that same man. He was angry. His newly purchased 13 year old used car was having problems. It kept dying on him and he was sure it was a problem Hardman Car Company already knew about.

"You need to get a tow truck out here now! I can't believe you would sell me such a piece of junk!" He yelled.

Eric, our trusty co-worker responded by asking him, "Does it have enough gas?"

With the needle close to empty, but not yet in the "red" the customer assured him it did and the problem was something major.

Eric politely asked him to please put some gas in it and if there was still a problem, to call him back and he would be happy to get a tow truck for him.

He waited until today to make his call. Now a somber, embarrassed customer, the gentleman apologized for his behavior, realizing he was in the wrong when the car worked perfectly with a full tank of gas.

A whole incident of someone getting angry (and then embarrassed), a salesmen feeling worried, and an owner anxious about his business reputation could have been avoided. If the gentleman would have just stepped back, and taken a look at was really happening, there would have been no need to get so worked up causing a big, ugly confrontation.

I share these stories with you as a business owner, a friend, a sister, a daughter,a consumer, a mother and a neighbor. All of these relationships are hot spots for angry confrontation. Although it is sometimes difficult, it's up to us to follow the golden rule and just take a second to look at the big picture. I hope that especially during this holiday season we can all step back, maybe grab a couple of scrumptious cookies, and just RELAX.