Bye bye to the car

[Silearth 6]

I've been driving my mother's 16 year old Corolla and it's been running quite well for a 16 year old car. Well, my wife has been helping her sister the past week. She is taking training for work about 100 miles from home, but she can't be away from her kids for even a day. My wife has been using her car to bring the kids down to her and then bring them back up to Victorville and take my kids to school.

 

Wednesday was a school holiday, but not one for me. She took all the kids to the hotel except for my son who is quite a trouble maker. The idea was that I would drop him off at the brother-in-law's apartment near work and pick him up on the way home. I made it about halfway to work before the engine started tearing itself apart. All you could hear was the sound of moving pieces hitting metal--a sound that brings a smile to the faces of most mechanics.

 

A few hours later found me at a repair shop run by a relative of my brother-in-law's wife. My mother-in-law turned on the Indonesian charm and we struck a bargain for a replacement engine and the labor. Got in a tift with the wife about the whole ordeal and she took her sweet time in picking us up. Ended up walking with the idea of making it 6-10 miles to the local train station. I've been exercising and dieting(Down to 204 now from 236). The walk was nothing to me. But about a mile into it my son, who is over weight was starting to fade. He kept asking if I ever got tired. (How ironic that I started this fitness kick so that I would survive long enough to enjoy my kids and now he can't keep up with me) We walked about 2.6 miles to the nearest Target where I got him some water and we waited for the wife.

 

I am quite sore now and almost skipped out on the daily mile I walk with my co-workers.

 

All in all, a grand adventure and a great story to be told to my friends at work.

[Genenut 8]

I can commiserate Sil,

 

My car bought me a new serpentine belt and tensioner for my birthday this week. Coming home from dropping off the eldest for his play performance saturday I smelled smoke for 15 seconds, then thump sound then about 1/2 my idiot lights lit up, my headlights dimmed and my Taurus became VERY hard to Steer... drove home since school is at the end of an empty hill and 1.5 mile stretch of road and no good place to leave it or call for a cab to get home and it was still running just hard to steer and VERY dim headlights, tow job to mechanic sunday and then repairs on monday... next time I think my car can just buy me a card.

 

This of course is after it decided that its starter was too old (and I guess unfashionable) and needed a new one and a new battery at the beginning of October stranding us at walmart at 5:30pm on a Friday. I cant wait to see what she decides needs replacing in December... *sigh*

 

I'm thinking that I need to adopt my mechanic as a member of the family. then at least maybe I can claim some of the money I've given him over the last couple of months back on my taxes as a dependent exemption.

 

Got to love our cars... they throw tantrums when they think they arent loved enough... EXPENSIVE tantrums...

Edited November 13, 2009 by Genenut

[DaveO 88]

I had somebody rear end my 15 year old Toyota Corolla on Wednesday. I'm currently waiting on the damage settlement information, but I'll likely be looking for a new vehicle soon. The car can still drive, but the repair value is worth more than the value of the vehicle.

[Silearth 6]

I had somebody rear end my 15 year old Toyota Corolla on Wednesday. I'm currently waiting on the damage settlement information, but I'll likely be looking for a new vehicle soon. The car can still drive, but the repair value is worth more than the value of the vehicle.

 

That is the problem. Is it really worth it to work on a 15+ year old car. I drove my sister-in-laws 2006-2007 pilot and it was nice. But on friday she gave me the keys to her 2010 civic--I'm in love. Yep, the wife's family is that generous. Everyone working to make sure everyone has what they need.

 

My car should be ready on Tuesday, but I'm sorry to have to drive that again.....lol.

[gial 2]

If the car is still safe -- just expensive cosmetic damage -- take the check and buy the carcass back from the insurance company for a couple hundred. We have a 14 year old Eagle that someone plowed into the left rear. Fender and bumper damage to the tune of $2k since the bumper is one of those special coated things -- it alone was almost $1k to fix. But no structural damage of any kind. Since the car is an old rust bucket anyway, we took the "total"ed value of $1500, bought the car back for $250 and netted a tidy sum. Just because they pay you the money you don't have to fix the car. The compensation is for loss of value, not to fix the car. You can do whatever you like with the dough.

[Silearth 6]

And to end the story--actually close two stories--I picked up the car yesterday after work. Runs like a charm. The repair shop is kind of out of my way so I had to take my kids up the mountain road that I got lost on before.

 

We got it right this time.

[Timotheus 416]

*sigh* I can add a story from my own experience now.

 

Saturday night I was in the car with my girlfriend. She was supposed to drive back home from our dinner at a local restaurant, and later that night we would go to a birthday party of some friends.

When we came up at a traffic sign it turned orange, and my GF decided to stop. Literally a split second after we stopped a girl rear ended us, she expected us to drive through the orange/red light. My girlfriend was really shocked, but we were all OK. We settled things, called the police because we couldn't find info on the car insurance of the car (it belongs to my GF's mom). Sadly however, the cars were pretty damaged. The other car got towed, because there may have been radiator damage, however we could still drive home. But still, there was a lot of damage, and more than we could see on first inspection.

 

I feel very sorry for my GF, because she only had her license 2 weeks, and also for her mom, because the car was only hers for a few months. It was an old Ford Fiesta, and when she got it to a garage today, they told her that it was totalled. The repairs would be well in excess of 1,5K in € and the value of the car isn't even half of it...

Edited November 30, 2009 by Timotheus