As you know, P&L strongly encourages clients to read consumer awareness magazines such as Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine and Consumer Reports. Little did we know that it would pay off so big for us, personally.

Our 1989 Chevy, which we bought at a U.S. GSA Auction in 1992 (a story for another newsletter) started developing big white spots, which don’t look good on a black car. Last year there were a couple spots which we "touched" up. Then this year the number of spots started growing exponentially. We were desperate for a solution and were considering repainting Sally the Celebrity.

But in November we noticed a little item in Consumer Reports that stated that Ford and General Motors were repainting some cars on a case by case basis at their expense. It was not a recall but there were known paint problems that the auto companies were attempting to fix.

To make a long story short, we took our car to two different dealership. One wanted a $280 deductible but wanted cash, no checks or charge cards, and they weren’t very consumer oriented, while the other examined the car and said the doors have already been painted and said they would repaint everything else for a $100 deductible.