honey and sting

So, for Thanksgiving, my cousin came to visit, and took my car for one of the days while I went to work.   She drove about 150 miles in it that day, and when she came back, she complained of the transmission not working properly: "it revved for a long time before it changed gears."

Later that evening, we were heading off to dinner, and I wasn't feeling well so she took the wheel again, and I noticed that she had inadvertently put the car in manual mode, and was DRIVING IN FIRST GEAR.    "So," I asked, "is this how you drove it to Santa Fe?"

Grrr, Argh.  So after she left, I had it checked out, because driving to Santa Fe and back in first gear =/= good.   They said it may have burnt the transmission fluid, or the transmission itself might need to be replaced.

Fortunately, SUBARU IS A VERY CLEVER CAR.   It turns out there is an over-ride to the manual over-ride, which kicks in once the rpm goes over a certain level.  Not as smoothly as if it were in regular, automatic mode, which is why she felt it was shifting late, but enough to prevent damage.  My car, she is fine.

I LOVE YOU MY SUBARU!