You’re not half as tired of reading about my car as I am of writing about it, or paying for it! But, I have a few reasons for telling you this one so just bear with me. I needed a safety check. No problem, right? Right blinker, left blinker, wipers, horn, etc. They all work, “here’s you sticker.” That’s how it usually goes, right? Wrong!
It’s not that easy when the safety check is done correctly. Apparently, what I just described is how some not-so-thorough businesses have managed to get themselves shut down — they have not been abiding by the rules. I honestly didn’t know there was supposed to be more than blinkers and horns, etc.
See, I thought I would go to my Flagship friends because they have been so good to me. It’s just a few dollars for a safety check but I want to support my favorite businesses when I can. So, off we go to Waipio!

How was I supposed to know they are so damn efficient and anally accurate??? After two hours (they were busy) I was beginning to get mildly irritated. Thoughts like, “Just gimme my sticker!” were running through my head. Nope, not doing it.
They were looking under the hood, which I thought was strange, so I asked them, “What’s the problem? You guys are making me nervous.” Apparently my battery wasn’t tied down firmly because the tray it sits on was broken. So? What does that have to do with anything? I’m thinking: “What’s it to you?!?” I did say, “You’re kidding, right?” Then I got the scare tactic, albeit probably accurate. Again with the accurate.
“You know those car fires on the freeway you hear about?”
“Yeah?”
“80% of the time those are probably because of the battery.”
He continued about sparks blah, blah, and unstable batteries, etc., etc. Okay, okay, I get it. “If I go get the tray will you guys put it on for me?” Sure, they would do that. Off I go to Checkers Auto Parts to get one. When I asked for the tray the guy behind the counter grinned and asked, “Safety check time?” Ahhh, this is not new. New to me, but not new.
Back to Flagship with the tray and yet more waiting time. Soon I was informed that the tray would not fit. What?!? The original tray has a funky shape so the generic tray wouldn’t fit. Flagship gave me a temporary safety check — they were not going to let go of the sticker. My car wasn’t “safe.”
Next step, call Toyota and ask if they have a battery tray for a 1992, blah, blah, blah. “We don’t have any of those.” A loud buzzer sounds in my head — WRONG ANSWER! In typical Toyota fashion, this was a specialty item for a car that thinks it’s special. She’s a brat! What can I say? Next move, call the junk yards. After three junk yards I was out of luck and thoroughly disgusted.
This is an entire day gone — a day I will never get back! A day wasted on a frickin’ safety check. I just want to go home! Stupid battery! Flagship had to charge it for me at least two, maybe three, times because it kept going dead.
Wait, about that commercial — battery, battery, Battery Bill! If they can’t fix it, nobody can! They did. That battery is not moving anymore. At all! This is why commercials with jingles are essential. Okay, now I’ll go back on Saturday and get my permanent sticker.
Saturday morning comes and, “What do you mean you’re out of stickers?” Apparently everybody else wanted their safety checks from them too. What’s that? Kapolei had no stickers or safety check person on deck. “But our Wahiawa location has stickers.” Wahiawa? I don’t know Wahiawa. I’ll get lost.
I found it. Apparently, it seemed, Waipio had already called them and given them the heads up.

You can’t say they are in the boonies. They are in Wahiawa. You can say that Wahiawa is in the boonies! I have to admit that it was peaceful and very laid back there.

This location was definitely big on customer comfort! This customer lounge was air conditioned.

There were tall bar-stool-type chairs.

There was coffee, a microwave, and a telephone — what else do you need? I could get comfortable here! I didn’t need to get comfortable. I got my sticker!
Check your battery trays, please! Make sure those batteries are secure! If you got your sticker and your battery is moving all over the place, you might want to think about changing establishments. Be safe!
I will have NO MORE CAR PROBLEMS until next October! If I do, I just won’t tell you guys about it. I’m not going to tell you that the front bumper of my car fell off. Well, unless it leads to something interesting.
Kudos to Waipio Flagship FastLube for being fuss budgets about the Safety Check rules! I can say that now — now that I’m done being irritated. After all my annoyance it dawned on me that they may have saved my life. Did I say that Flagship is a great place to take your car? But, they’re still not on Facebook.
I made it to Wahiawa and got my sticker. I was also able to get over and see something that I have been waiting to get to for quite some time. But, that’s for another post. A shorter one. Coming Soon!