I just arrived back in Mexico City after driving from Ottawa Canada on my annual return from the summer at the lake.<br /><br />The weather was dry and clear for the first day and I made good time making it 100 miles north of Memphis.<br /><br />I crossed in to Texas and stopped for gas (and Starbucks) on the east side of Dallas around noon. I don't look for cheap gas, just stop at any station that is convenient, but I noticed that this particular station was really busy and the gas was the lowest ($1.789/gal) of the entire trip.<br /><br />I drove south towards Austin and 20 miles south of Temple Tx my van just quit!<br /><br />Managed to limp to a gas station and it was obvious that I had a problem with the fuel system. The guys there were really helpful and even though they did not have a mechanic on site called a local tow truck to take me back to Temple ($70.00) to the nearest dealer.<br /><br />Arrived as the dealership was just closing however they promised to repair first thing next day so I found a hotel and settled in for the night.<br /><br />The next morning I checked with the dealer an hour after they opened and they had not even looked at my van, in fact they could not find the keys or work-order. Walked to Starbucks for my morning shot while they checked to see what the problem was. Turned out to be a trashed fuel pump which they said was caused by bad gas! Quoted me $350 for a new pump and said it would require 3 hours to install. Less than an hour later the van was ready and I was hit with a $750 bill. I said to the guy, how can you charge me for 3 1/2 hours labour when you have only had the van in the shop for less than 2 hours. He gave me some story that the mechanic had worked on it first thing and it took 2 guys to do the job. I feel that they really hosed me on the labour 
Classic case of taking advantage of a traveller in distress!<br />The rest of the journey was uneventful except for the aggressive, rude truck drivers! What is it with these guys I had one who indicated to pull out as I was half way down his trailer and then proceeded to tail gate, honked his horn and gave me the finger as if I should have braked and got out of his way. I don't know how many times a truck would pull out to overtake another truck doing 1 mph faster and when he gets halfway past the truck being overtaken then starts to pull away. If a car driver did this they would be right up their tail with lights & horn blaring. <br />Just an observation! The Mexican truckers are very considerate and courteous compared to the US guys.
Classic case of taking advantage of a traveller in distress!<br />The rest of the journey was uneventful except for the aggressive, rude truck drivers! What is it with these guys I had one who indicated to pull out as I was half way down his trailer and then proceeded to tail gate, honked his horn and gave me the finger as if I should have braked and got out of his way. I don't know how many times a truck would pull out to overtake another truck doing 1 mph faster and when he gets halfway past the truck being overtaken then starts to pull away. If a car driver did this they would be right up their tail with lights & horn blaring. <br />Just an observation! The Mexican truckers are very considerate and courteous compared to the US guys.
