|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/samscars/ |
Upload File : |
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="Author" content="MARK GIAMMALVO">
<meta name="GENERATOR"
content="Mozilla/4.04 [en] (Win95; U) [Netscape]">
<title>Stimulating Test Drives Mark Giammalvo</title>
</head>
<body>
<center>
<table border="1" cols="2" width="100%" cellpadding="20">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top" width="10%" height="10%">
<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
<big><big> </big></big>
<center></center>
<img src="mark3.jpg" alt="Mark Giammalvo" height="180"
width="167">
<center></center>
<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family
business, Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service,
Inc. in New</font> <font color="#000000">Bedford, MA. </font> </i>
</p>
<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE Master
Technician and Parts Specialist. He also holds the ASE L1 certification,
and has an associates degree in business</font>
<font color="#000000">management. <br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age Magazine and is
the past secretary of the Alliance of Automotive Service Professionals,
(AASP).<br>
</font> </i> <br>
<br>
</p>
</td>
<td align="center" valign="CENTER"> <font
color="#000000"><a href="ourarticles.htm"><img src="sam-logo.gif"
alt="Return To Our Articles Page" border="0" height="71" width="351">
</a>
</font> <br>
<br>
<p><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal of The Alliance
of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) </font></i></small></p>
<center></center>
<big><big><b> Stimulating Test Drives</b></big></big>
<div align="justify"> <br>
<br>
For those of you that don't know me, one of my many job tasks here at
the dealership is assisting our sales department by accompanying customers
on test drives. I've had a lot of things happen to me in the past 20 years
of those test drives. Hub caps have catapulted off into traffic behind
me. There were the occasional fender benders. I even had a college professor
drive a 2002 Maxima over 90 MPH during a steady rain. The car was just starting
to teeter-totter diagonally when he finally decided to slow down. Quite
frankly, he almost put that car on its roof. More recently, were the two
young fellows driving our 2002 Nissan Sentra SER. When the driver got to
100 MPH on the highway behind the shop, I finally told him to slow it down.
I made a beeline for the bathroom after that one. I'll admit I'm already
36 years old but I would like to live a little longer. Then there was the
guy that stole a car from me. That story goes back about 10 years ago. The
car was a Honda Prelude. The customer (thief) decided to pop open the trunk
while we were driving. Like the gullible guy that I am, I told him to pull
over so I could close it. As soon as I stepped out of the car, he took off
with the passenger's door still open. He got the car for a while but later
the cops got him. Two days later, the police in Atlantic City grabbed him
on a routine traffic stop. They say he tried to run but the officer was
faster. Today's drive really added some icing to the test drive cake. A couple
came in to drive a 2002 Jeep Cherokee. As usual, I rode shotgun in the back
seat while the couple sat up front. The husband drove around our city streets
not far from the dealership. After numerous accelerations and hard braking
events, he pulled over. A slight odor of friction material came through the
cabin. The husband questioned me about the smell. I told him that continued
aggressive braking events will cause the friction material to superheat and
give off this odor. Then we played "who's smarter." He kept saying that it
did not seem right as his other Jeeps and Chevy trucks had never done that.
I assured him that if he continued to brake that aggressively, any vehicle's
brake pads would give off this odor. He still didn't believe me. I told him
that if he got out right now and touched the wheels they would be so hot
he wouldn't be able to keep is hand on them. After driving back to the shop
he left with not so much as even a good by to me or my father who had negotiated
the price and was handling the sale. Perhaps my honesty offended him. I
did check the front rotors with a pyrometer right after he left. Just as
I expected, more than 300 degrees. If you beat on the brakes their going
to heat up. Common sense? I guess not. At the end of day I went with a
nice couple and their young child in a 2002 Toyota Camry. The husband drove
normally like a regular person. No continuous heavy stops, no hard accelerations,
no beating on the car. They were nice to me and I was nice to them. They
respected our property as I would theirs. Fortunately, most of our customers
are like these people. If the majority were not, I just don't think I could
do this for a living.<br>
</div>
<p> </p>
<center><font color="#000000"> <a href="ourarticles.htm"><img
src="sam-logo_002.gif" alt="Return To Our Articles Page." border="0"
height="71" width="351">
</a>
</font><font color="#ff0000"><font
size="+3"> </font></font> </center>
<center> </center>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</center>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>