Towing Advisable?

Lazybeacher has asked: "Now that you had a little fender bender, in you opinion, is it still a good idea to tow behind the motor home? Or could you manage without the toad?"

For me, the answer is simple. No, I could not do without a car. This is the advantage a truck and trailer combination has over a motorhome like ours. You can park, unhook, and you have a vehicle to get around in.

Most RV parks are not within walking distance of shopping. We use the car almost every day for picking something up at the grocery store or exploring. Several times we have abandoned the motorhome and used the car to visit nearby towns, sometimes staying in a hotel for a couple of nights in towns where motorhomes would be too large to maneuver.

Buses are sometimes an option but routes can be confusing, some are very crowded and it is very inconvenient to pack several bags of groceries on a bus. Taxis are plentiful and cheap in Mexico and that is a valid option but most are not radio controlled and cannot be called. Most RV parks are not in places where taxis regularly cruise for fares. You could end up walking many blocks waiting for an empty one to cruise by. In some places, San Miguel de Allende for example, taxis are always cruising by the RV park and when we were there we used them extensively. It was very convenient to be able to go to town and not have to worry about parking

For us, traveling in Mexico is all about exploring and we do not want to be "stuck" in an RV park. We have seen many people in this position. Some, like our Dutch friends, can pack up the camper very quickly to head out to the store or whatever. It is not a huge problem for them, but every time we mentioned to them that we were going to the store and would they like to come, they did. I am sure even they would like some form of secondary transportation, even a little motorscooter like our friend Les finally bought. It gives you freedom.

So, even with the added cost and risk of accidents, we will keep the old Honda. Yes, it is old. A 1989 Accord with 250,000 KM on it so a small unrepaired ding no longer hurts it's feelings. It is a good traveling companion and it blends right in here in Mexico so we will never be mistaken for "rich gringos" when we drive it.

There are costs involved. Insurance is required, there are four more tires to wear, road tolls are higher and it probably costs me one mile per gallon to tow it. It also makes U-turns harder to make. But, after weighing all the factors involved, the convenience of having the car outweighs the costs.

Ya, But You Should See The Other Guy

Aftermath of the little altercation yesterday.

Me:

The Other Guy:

"v10superduty" on RV.net responded on that forum with this comment:

Whether the guy in the Toyota didn't realize you were towing OR thought someone in a red Honda was trying to cut in out of turn; I would have liked to have heard what he was thinking when he realized he had collided with a driverless car.. --whose unseen driver he was probably cursing at as he showed him-- "hey your not cutting in on me a$$whole" or something like that, just before the collision!!!

I am surprised he didn't blurt out how stupid he was

My All Around Bad Day!

I have not had an accident in Canada since the 1960's! The last two winters in Mexico I have damaged the roof, once on a tunnel roof and once on a low, unmarked overpass. No other vehicle has ever been involved. Today put an end to that trend.

Today we were leaving Playa Del Carmen and came to road construction. We were in the right lane and it was closed ahead so people were merging left. Everyone was cooperating and letting one vehicle in front of them and going on. It was working fine. The guy beside me went ahead in front of me and I made eye contact with the van behind him. He saw me and dropped back a bit. I had my signal on and my hand out the window, pointing into the left lane, it was my turn and he slowed and dropped back to let me in. No problem.

I slowly turned into the left lane and suddenly heard a horn, a screech of brakes and a crash! I looked in the mirror just as he hit the median and the front bumper / grill of his Toyota van came flying off while the Honda and the dolly got pushed to the right! We had collided!

One of two things happened. 1) He let the motorhome in and did not see the car. He did not realize I was towing and tried to fall into line behind the motorhome, or 2) (most likely) He let the motorhome in and then thought someone in a red Honda was trying to squeeze in front of him as well and blasted his horn and accelerated to cut him off, not realizing I was towing the Honda. I think #2 is more like it because he beeped his horn a split second before making contact. That and I understand aggressive Mexican drivers.

The police were there before I could even get out of the drivers seat. There were two Traficos and one Municipal Police and they were all very professional and courteous, one spoke English. I called the 800 number on my insurance policy and an adjuster was there with a translator in twenty minutes. Great service!

I told them what happened and they and the police did all the paperwork and then the English speaking cop asked to speak to me. He told me he understood how it happened but the bad news was that in Mexico, the vehicle changing lanes is always responsible to do it safely. It was my fault! He said he had to write me a ticket "por cambiar de direction sin tomar precausion", an unsafe lane change. He took my drivers license to the Police kiosk which was less than a block away and I followed him on foot to pay the $272 pesos fine and get my license back. Everything took about two hours and we were on our way. Damage to the Honda is a small dent that spans both drivers side doors. I will probably get it fixed before we leave Mexico. It is not a big problem and both doors open easily.

And As If That Were Not Enoughl:

Just to finish off my crappy day a pair of Traficos tried to pull a fast one on the way into Cancun. Today they picked the wrong Canadian! One of them pulled his motorcycle up to my door and gave me the classic pointing over to the side gesture. I stopped and he walked up on the right motioning for me to get out. He spoke a little English and accused me of speeding! I never speed with the motorhome and all the way along the street I was being passed on both the left and right (parking lane) sides. I was doing at least 10 or 15 KM less than everyone else. After the earlier accident I was being super cautious! They simply thought they had an easy mark for a payoff.

I told him I was not speeding and he kept saying I was doing 50 in a 40 school zone. He said he would have to confiscate my drivers license and write me a ticket and do I have a problem with that? He said I would have to go downtown tomorrow to pay the ticket and get my license back and do I have a problem with that? It was not said in so many words but he gave me many opportunities to offer to pay the "fine" on the spot. He asked me "do you have a problem with that?" at least ten times. It must be code or something.

I told him I had no problem with him writing me a ticket but I will complain to his commanding officer about it because I was not speeding and he knew it. He made a show of walking to the motorcycle to get his ticket book. He told me that is what a ticket looks like and do I have a problem with him writing it. I said no, go ahead and write it and I would come downtown tomorrow and make a complaint. After ten or fifteen minutes he said that I was a nice guy and since I was a tourist he was going to let me off with a warning.

I told the guy running the MecoLoco RV park here about it and he said it is a huge problem on Bonempak Avenue. He said, "I don't know why they do that. If it was not for people like you, they would have no job!" This is a concept little understood throughout Mexico.

He picked the wrong day for nailing me. After the accident which I do not really think was 100% my fault, I was not going to be pushed around by two Traficos looking for a bribe! They picked the wrong day! I have always said that if I do something wrong, I have no problem paying a fine and this I did today, even though I do not agree I was 100% to blame. Mordita is another story! They can look somewhere else for their spending money, hopefully in the unemployment line.

EDIT: Today we drove the same route and there is NO school zone or any 40KM speed zone. The entire route is posted either 50 or 60. I wonder how many tourists pull out their wallets for these two crooks?

Oil Change Glitch

On the way out of Chetumal we found a Taller Mechanico shop and stopped for an oil change. I had the oil and filter with me so all the guy had to do was crawl underneath, drain the old oil, change the filter and refill. Easy – I have done it myself dozens of times.

It was really hot and humid. 94 outside and the best the air conditioning was about 83 inside so we stayed inside while they worked. Eventually I went out to see how they were doing and they had two buckets of liquid beside the truck. One was obviously the old oil and the other was unknown. I stuck my finger in it and it was RED!!! Automatic transmission fluid! I looked at the guy and he smiled and said, “Si, transmission”.

I asked him why he drained the transmission and he said, “No problema”, the Mexican answer to almost everything. I crawled underneath and could see where he made his mistake. The transmission drain plug was out in the open while the engine oil drain plug was kind of hidden. To be fair, he had only drained about a litre of it before he noticed his error. I asked if he could get more fluid and he said, “Si, no problema”.

They finished the oil change and another mechanic arrived and took the transmission oil into the shop. He poured it out of the bucket and through a filter he made of a rag (hopefully clean) and showed me. It looked clean, at least all the leaves were gone, and he poured it back into the transmission through the dip stick tube. He had me start the truck and put it in drive, pulled the dipstick and showed me that it was reading full. “No problema”, they all said…

I paid the bill, a fairly reasonable $150 pesos and we were on our way with me making a mental note to have the transmission serviced as soon as we get back to the USA.