Having a body with Lyme disease in Canada is like driving a car with the check engine light on

I bring it into the dealership and tell them it hasn't been the same since being hit by a truck (or bit by a tick) and the check engine light is on. They run a diagnostic test on it and they tell me there’s actually nothing wrong with the car. 

“But what about the light?”

They don’t know why the light's on, nor do they have an explanation for the weird sounds it makes, or the way the headlights turn off unexpectedly, or the black smoke it often emits. They assure me that my car is in good shape; in fact, the test shows it’s in great shape and I should continue to drive it and ignore those things. 

But then a mechanics shop says they can run a test on it, and their tests show that there actually is something very wrong with it. It costs quite a lot of money for the test, and it will cost quite a lot of money and time to fix it. They tell me that if I don’t fix it now, it’s going to get a lot worse and one day I may not even be able to drive it.

But how can this be? 

So I tell the dealership about the mechanic and the dealership laughs and says the mechanic can’t be trusted. They tell me not to give the mechanic my money, it’s a waste of time. The dealerships' diagnostic tests are the best in the world and much more advanced than the mechanics' tests.

But the mechanic can see the smoke and hear the sounds and admits that the check engine light is in fact on. The mechanic assures me it indeed can be fixed. The dealership implies that maybe what I was seeing wasn’t the check engine light, but a reflection from the dash or a trick of the light. I remind the dealership that the car ran perfectly before the truck hit it, something must have happened upon impact. But the dealership assures me that nothing bad has happened to my car.

So I ask around. 

And all of these other people who had the same experience with the dealership - so they went to the mechanic and the mechanic actually did fix the car. Sometimes it sputters on startup but the check engine light is off and it’s drivable and doesn't make weird noises or emit black smoke. 

So here I am, with this car I'll own for the rest of my life, unsure if I should invest the time and money and work on it getting it fixed, or listen to the dealership who is considered the most knowledgeable, most professional, and most trusted. 

Should I write a letter to my government saying there is something seriously wrong with the dealership I trusted and went to all my life before this problem?

I lie awake at night wondering what the dealership has to gain in denying me help. And I wonder if a politician brought his car to the dealership, would they tell them the same thing or would they just fix it for them?

Photo of a live blood cell with borrelia from MicroCell Sciences, provided by Shannon Park-Gregory.