Back in August Ali and I took a trip to Acapulco. It was a fun four day getaway from our “tough life” here in Zihuatanejo. We drove down in our 2013 Renault Duster, which has been a reliable car for the two years we’ve owned it. The only issue we had with the car to date was a month prior we went to start the car and the battery was dead. That was strange as we purchased a new battery earlier in the year. We ran out and bought jumper cables and everything was fine again.

So we drive to Acapulco. It’s about a four and a half hour drive, if you take your time like we did. We made a few stops along the way, and checked into the Torres Gamelas Hotel / Condo in Acapulco at 3pm. We were able to park in the hotel / condo garage, which was included in our reservation. We had booked this place on Airbnb and we were a little surprised that it was more hotel than condo. Our airbnb really was a slightly larger than normal hotel room. The kitchen was beside the bed. Victor managed all of the rental units in the building and checked us in. He was friendly, bilingual, and told us that 85% of their guests come from Mexico City. I was surprised by this, but as we walked through a packed lobby of tourists we were the only “gringos.” We were tired from our drive, and laid down for a nap. I woke up to messages from Victor stating that the fan was running on the Duster car. I ran down to the garage, but it was too late. Our battery was dead. Again.

Fortunately it was only Day 1 and we could realistically do without our car for three more days. And we just needed to jump-start the car. We have jumper cables! The following day we walked all over the city and left the non-starting car in the garage. The plan was to head out to Punta Diamante, the Diamond Zone, to do some shopping on our second full day in Acapulco. The garage attendants helped us jump start the car and we were off. After several hours in Punta Diamante we visited Capilla de la Paz, a clifftop chapel with amazing views high above Acapulco. On the way down the hill the A/C started cutting in and out. As we pulled into the parking garage our car started smoking. Yay! Amazingly, Victor happened to be in the garage. We were concerned. It’s 3:30pm on a Saturday afternoon. We know how things work in Mexico, as it’s not advised to have a home or vehicle emergency between 1pm Saturday and 9am Monday. It’s almost impossible to get any work done during those hours.

Victor told us to leave the car keys with the garage attendants and to enjoy the rest of the day. Three hours later, at 6:30pm, the garage attendants called us to say everything was fine. We went down to the garage, and the guys told us that the mechanic came out and hooked the computer up to see what was wrong. There was a fuse issue, and it had been corrected. They also mentioned that our oil was a little low, so they added a bit. The bill was 2,250 pesos, or roughly $110USD. Totally worth it! We ran to the ATM to get the cash but the guys had left for the night by the time we returned.

The next morning on our way to do some more sight seeing we stopped by the parking garage. We handed the attendants the pesos for our bill plus a 500 peso tip for taking care of us. I had asked Victor the night before if a tip would be accepted by the garage attendants, and what amount would be reasonable. My main concern being not to offend someone by giving them a tip, and not to offend someone by giving them too little of a tip.

We showed up at an Airbnb, it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, and our car was falling apart. It turned out to be the best place we could’ve chosen. And almost six months later the car hasn’t had a single mechanical issue.