Well, It Does Save Nearly 10%

[kevin_standlee]

I've been having an intermittent problem with the heater/AC fan on my van. We know what the problem is: Lisa looked into it last year and determined (and I agree) that I really need a new fan; however, she patched it together temporarily then, and it held together until this trip. During this trip, it started failing again. I could coax it back to life temporarily by wiggling the wires running into the motor, but it really needs replacing. So this morning I called the nearby GM dealership and made an appointment to have them replace it. We'll take it to the shop this afternoon when Lisa can follow me in.

While I don't like having to spend yet more money, at least I don't have to pay sales tax on the parts.

Update, 15:30: Dealership confirms that it's the blower fan, and quotes a price of a little over $150 $200 installed, which seems like a bargain to me. I should be able to collect it sometime tomorrow afternoon. They must know what the trick for getting the fan assembly out of the van is. Lisa and I tried it once and could see no way to do so without serious structural work.

Further Update, 16:30: They forgot to quote me the entire fan assembly including the cage that actually moves the air. Still doesn't seem too bad to me. Also, it's replacing an after-market blower with a GM part, which seems like a better thing to do.

Comments

[jbriggs.livejournal.com]

You can always report it on your CA540 next year, if you absolutely feel a need to pay the sales tax anyway ... RIIIIGGHHHTT!

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of a radio ad for Orchard Supply Hardware for their no-sales-tax sale that had someone trying to get their brother to buy a barbecue grill for them in Oregon in order to avoid the tax. I found it amusing that a company would be running ads implicitly advocating breaking California law. Of course, that law is pretty much ignored anyway — how could they possibly enforce it without draconian privacy invasions?

[yamazakikun.livejournal.com]

If the California government seriously thought that draconian privacy invasions were a bad idea, I'd so move there. Unfortunately, I doubt that anyone at BoE would have a problem with such things if they thought that they would bring in more money than they cost.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Agreed. But as I think it would indeed cost them more to collect the tax than they'd realize, that's okay. OTOH, I know the BoE will sometimes spend more money to collect tax than they realize, because they did so when I obeyed the law and collected/paid sales tax on Montreal bid t-shirts. It cost the BoE more to send me the tax return than they received in revenue. That's because their system doesn't recognize a minimum revenue amount, which it should.