Tag Archives: car

There’s a hole….. where?

What I've Been Up To, ,

Jeff and I swapped vehicles yesterday and he took my car to his mechanic for an oil change and for a little investigation into the squeak I’ve been hearing from the back end.

In the afternoon they called him at his office with an update.  They changed the oil.  They think the squeak is just some bushings than need some lubrication.  But the mechanic wanted Jeff to come down to talk in person.

Uh-oh.

How bad is the news going to be if you have to go in person?

Turns out my 2007 Dodge Caliber is no longer structurally sound.

The mechanic found a hole in the frame and he said it will definitely not pass its biannual safety inspection in September.

He said it is the third Caliber he has seen this month with the same problem.

ACK! I knew we should have undercoated it! But we thought we were going to turn it in at 5 years so we hadn’t bothered. Do you think the winter road salt is to blame? Or is it the manufacturer’s fault?

The new piece of the frame is $800 plus labour.

holeincar2

My winning strategy paid off today!

What I've Been Up To, , , , ,

When it comes to lines and waiting and timing and ice and salt and grime and dirt there is only one thing you can arm yourself with.

A car wash strategy.

I had one today. It is going up to +10. The car wash will be lined up all day.

So my strategy was to hit it early.

Hit it when the soap is still topped up, the water is warm, and the line is short.

Only one thing could get in the way of a perfect implementation for this strategy.

Monday morning.

Argh, I didn’t want to get up. Because I didn’t go to bed early.  I got sucked in to pop culture. I saw Honey Boo Boo was on and I had to find out what the fuss was all about.  I got so sucked in, I watched the entire frightening Thanksgiving special.

But I digress…

Our parking area beside our porch was solid, uneven ice this morning, covered with a layer of melted ice.  It was certain death.  But nothing was going to stand in the way of getting my blue beauty cleaned, so I persevered, braved the ice, and made it into my car.

Traffic was moving swiftly this morning, so I made it to the car wash with plenty of time. And there was just one other vehicle there and he was just pulling into the carwash.

VICTORY!

2 minutes later, Blue Beauty was in her salon, getting sudded up, and hosed down.

She’s a happy girl now.  Rejuvenated.

And so am I. I still made it to work before 8am.

 

Doofus with the studded tires on November 1

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

Yeah. That’s me.

Tomorrow my car is going to soak my entire pay cheque, plus probably more.

I’ll never buy a new car again that is cheap and plastic and falls apart and has a tire size that is ridiculously difficult to find tires for.

At least my old snow tires lasted 5 years.

Since I’m getting other work done tomorrow, I figured I’d save the service fee and get new winter tires put on tomorrow.

Even though we don’t get winter for months and my hearing will be shot because I’ll have the radio on way too loud trying to block the sound of the gritty studs on the pavement…..

…..Or maybe it’ll snow early and I’ll be the only one ready.

Where’s that Hallowe’en candy……

 

I got rear ended yesterday

What I've Been Up To, , ,

What happens a week after I pay off my 5 year car loan?

A woman runs into my back end.

I was leaving work and sitting at a red light.

Then BAMMMMM!

What the heck was that? Did I really just get rear ended?

Older lady in car behind me motions me to pull into the parking lot on the other side of the intersection.  After it turned green I pulled in there.

She was going to pull in beside me, but I was too scared she’d then rip my door off, so I waiting in my car until she got out.

It doesn’t look like I was very damaged. She had a big license plate holder on the front end of her car and smacked into my plastic car.  I don’t even think there will be much of a mark. It left a perfect imprint in the dust on my car though.

She said “it is all my fault” (no really? because I’m not sure how it could be mine!?!?!)

Then she held out her gnarled fingers.  ”The sun hit my arthritis,” she said.  All her knuckles were swollen with arthritis and her skin was frightening. It was pink with eczema and flaking off all over.

I said, “Are you sure YOU are okay? Do you need to get those fingers checked out?”  (and by saying that, I mean, ARE YOU SURE YOU SHOULD BE DRIVING? HOW DOES SUN HITTING YOUR FINGERS EQUATE TO YOU RUNNING INTO MY CAR)

Her car was covered with handicap stickers.

She didn’t offer a name or anything.l had my cell phone in my hand snapping pictures of her, her car, everything, in a spy-like manner.

I figured there was no visible damage, so she left.

Jeff thinks I should have got her name.  I’m okay, there is no damage, she is okay, except for her fingers, so end of story I guess.

Oops, I think I got someone in trouble

General, ,

Yesterday I had to get my car’s windshield replaced.

I didn’t notice the crack until this weekend when I was sitting in the passenger seat, but a big long ugly crack appeared behind my rearview mirror. Looks like I probably took a big rock to the window. I swear I get hit with a rock a month on our highway, but I didn’t see the chip hiding behind the mirror to get it sealed on time.

Anyway, I dropped it off at Apple Auto Glass yesterday and they kindly drove me to work. And I rode in style in the van that scoots around with panes of glass on the side. I might have to double-check my bucket list, but I could swear that was meant to be on my list. Hey, I’m easily amused.

After work was over for the day, I walked back over to pick up my car.

It felt good to get out for a nice walk, until I split my legs like a wishbone the month after Thanksgiving, on a patch of ice outside their shop. I managed to tweak both ankles, a thigh, and my neck. I probably should have just fallen, but this girl has pride and I had to stick the landing.

Anyway, I paid up for the service and headed for home.

What stunning service. Not only did I have a sparkling new window, they vacuumed my car!! This was kind of embarrassing, because my car was becoming a bit of a biohazard with rocks and salt and food bits and dog hair all over the floor.

They even cleaned the dust off the front dash.

But I don’t think they were supposed to leave their nice shiny metal measuring tape and can of glass cleaner in my car.

This could have gone either way. On one hand, bonus! new measuring tape and I used to use that canned foamy glass cleaner when I worked for Hydro in T. Bay. Kicks Windex ass. Best stuff ever. I could use a can of that stuff. On the other hand, my conscience. I can’t keep something that isn’t rightfully mind. Oh the guilt! It was obviously an oversight and I’d hate to be that guy who was without a measuring tape, stuck eyeballing his measurements on the next windshield replacement.

So today at lunch I drove over to the shop and gave the manager at the front desk the tape and glass cleaner.

He immediately scowled. I was expecting a sweet thank-you and I’d be on my way. But instead he said how could this have happened? How can they say they did their checklist and inspection and not notice those were still in your car. Was your car vacuumed? I thanked him so much for the vacuum and said it was a nice treat. He was apologetic and said thanks, but then verified what vehicle from yesterday’s workboard was mine and headed into the shop.

Uh oh.

I hope my conscience didn’t get someone fired.

I hightailed it out of there, avoiding the slippery ice patch of pain in the parking lot, and headed back to work, wondering if I had done the right thing.

Ice, cold, new wipers, days are longer, and I’m still standing

Weather, , , , ,

-11°C this morning! The lake is frozen from our place north, but is still wide open south, through the widest parts of the lake. We don’t have much more than a dusting of snow, but it can stay that way until Jeff goes and comes back from his Ontario trip later this month.

Our days are becoming noticeably longer. Love it! Last night I was able to go to Walmart for a few things after work, and it was still not dark at 4:50pm when I got home! The yard light clicked off this morning around 7:25am while I was scraping the windows of my car. Love it!

The meteorologists that I follow think the El Nina tread is reversing and February will bring significant cold and big storms to North America. Are you ready?

Hey, you know how they say that you should replace the window wipers on your car every 6 months? And by ‘they’ I mean the manufacturer of the wipers?

I usually wait until they fail, and I guess I’d consider it a fail when one flew off while Jeff was driving the car. So we got 3 new wipers. This is the first time in 4 years I’ve replaced the back wiper.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Too bad they are so pricey, or else maybe I would replace them every 6 months. Maybe I’ll aim for once a year now. The rear wiper used to be so noisy. Now? Not a sound. Love it!

OK break is over, back to work.

Oh by the way, I’m still standing at work. My feet can handle it much better than when I started this in November. I don’t switch shoes during the day anymore, just wear my hikers. I make sure to scrunch and stretch my feet inside my shoes once in awhile, and I sit down for a few minutes every hour just so I’m not straining anything by standing. I find I think about the fact that I’m standing far less often and it seems natural.

What should I do now?

What I've Been Up To,

I took my car to Jeff’s mechanic in Sherbrooke for a second opinion.

Unfortunately his opinion was even worse. He said all four struts are shot. They are leaking and need to be replaced. And the control arms, and the rear brake shoes.

He said people around here aren’t too happy with the Dodge Caliber. He doesn’t have a nice thing to say. I asked if all Chrysler products were as bad. He said it is the Caliber in particular.

This car is 4 years old. 86,200 kms on it. I’ve already replaced some of the struts. The control arms were replaced last November. I’ve done all the brakes already. I only drive back and forth to work on pavement!!

So now what do I do?

I talked to the salesman who sold me the car. I know he’s a salesman, but I really like this guy. I told him the bad news about the car. He took me aside to talk about after market parts, since he used to own a parts franchise, and other options. Then he told me to come and talk to him before I did anything. He ran some numbers, and found out how much I owe still on the car (11 more months of payments.) Here’s what is on the table:

  • New 2011 Jeep Patriot, 4×4 (it’s a little SUV)
  • Satellite radio (because he knows I need my Howard Stern and talk radio fix daily)
  • It’s a 4×4 so I can get my driveway easier in the snow (in theory)
  • He’ll buy-back the Caliber for what I owe (he said that is more than what he could normally offer for it as a trade in. He said it isn’t worth that much and in a year it’ll be worth essentially nothing) (I’m starting to see why)
  • Take off another $2,500+ (incentive for taking a 2011. Sounds like this number may grow from the 2,500 he quoted me a couple days ago)
  • He is willing to work with me on the safety. I may not have to pay a penny to fix it, or possibly a reduced rate.
  • Payments will be identical to the Caliber’s payments, or possibly a little less. Or $50 more a month if I want his 5 year gold star warranty.

So… what do I think? I think I was counting on paying for a new car over 5 years and then having years left to enjoy it, payment free. I don’t like knowing I bought a cheap piece of shit that has no value.

A Jeep Patriot is a compact SUV. Not what I would have guessed my next vehicle would be, but the ratings for it are surprisingly good. But it is also in the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep family. Is the Caliber a dud because I bought it’s first year model? Just a lemon? A visit back to the Caliber forums show people are all making the same repairs I am.

We looked the Ford Escapes a few weeks ago. Jeff said he was tired of my lemon and wanted to trade it in, but I was hesitant because I really don’t want a car payment forever. Maybe we should have done it while I still had a valid safety sticker.

The car has a couple other quirks that we don’t like. It has a really leaky front-right quarter. The floor is always soaked and the carpet is turning green. Chrysler has already fixed it once and replaced all the carpet underlay, but it obviously didn’t eliminate the problem. Also the keys have gotten stuck in the ignition a few times. Like permanently stuck, with car’s axillary power stuck on. They’ve replaced the tumbler system but it didn’t fix a thing because it happened again. It has happened 4 times now with no warning or pattern, making it not trustworthy.

Here is a poll for your advice. Remember, we live in Nova Scotia were we have to have a full safety inspection every 2 years so used cars have a very very short shelf life. My co-worker had a 2000 car. It failed it’s safety. Was rusted out underneath, including the brake lines, and he said they have it undercoated EVERY year! Quote was $2000 to fix so they bought a new car. Even his wiperblades failed. I can’t see a way to win this one, unless we were 23 kms closer to town and I could walk to work, but then Jeff would have a hell of a commute.

What should I do?

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I think I’m being hosed

What I've Been Up To, ,

So Chrysler has called.

My car failed its safety inspection and the estimate is $1600.

They said my car needs a right front strut, left and right control arms, and rear brake shoes.

If I say no, they slap a red, failed inspection sticker on my car. That sticker says the mechanic does not believe my car is roadworthy.

My car is 4 years old. I’ve had to put about $2000 of repairs into this car every year. All of these parts they want to replace have already been replaced since I bought this car brand new.

This is a nice provincial government incentive to keep our car dealerships and mechanics afloat.

I’m ready for a gamble. Slap that big red sticker on. I’m opting for a second option.