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timing in RL does not go as planned...
Oct. 9th, 2013 06:12 pm... usually not ever. the camry is getting to the point where it is no longer cheap to drive, because it is breaking down every time i turn around. and my preferred mechanic shop is Goodyear, who really are good, and worth the money, but may at this point be worth more than the *car* is worth. understand, the camry is a '96, and has almost 300k miles on it.
in the the last 3 weeks, the alternator went, and took the battery with it. fortunately, those were under warranty. unfortunately, roomie's alternator and battery went *at the same time*, and since this is the first time he's had to replace anything, his parts were *not* under warranty. and since his car is a honda accura, his parts are 3x as expensive as mine. i ended up paying for his car fix, so he could get to work. my total: $250. his total: $1100.
that next thursday, i got ill from something i ate at work. and then on the way home, the car stopped working. kaput. turns out it was the fuel pump and then, when they were on the test drive... the distributor assembly failed, so they had to tow the car back to the shop to fix it. total: $1300.
today, i took it in because what i thought was the accelerator fighting the floor mat (because that's the most frequent problem in the world when it comes to cars), was proven to be more since the car kept trying to stutter at stoplights even without the floormat on the driver's side. turned out one of the cylinders had bad wires in it. 10 minute fix. $200.
and all of that is *on top of* the $12k i've spent on the car just since I moved to this state, and the $1200 i spent to replace all the seals while i was still at my last place.
you don't have to say it, i know it, i've known since the beginning of the year that i needed a new car. in fact, the plan was to get a new car - an SUV, actually - *last year*. but i couldn't quite afford my house in spring, so i had to save 6mos more than i wanted to. which pushed back saving for the SUV - i wanted at least a third of the final price down on the loan. and saving for the car has been pushed back even more because every time i turned around this year, the camry broke. again.
and everyone who told me it was time - *i know*, darnit, but it was a matter of cost, and not just the cost of the car, but also the cost of the car *note*, because i knew the insurance would go up, and the car note was another bill i didn't want on top of the credit card debt and the student loan. and everyone who tells me they got their car fixed with the same problem - i'm at the point where they need to stop telling me that because my reply is 'then come over and fix it for free, if you can do better!'
the flip side of the problem is doing the research and deciding on a vehicle going forward. i'd been thinking, frex, an SUV, but the price is fairly expensive for me, even for a used vehicle. this means more savings time while trying to hold the camry together. so i mentally 'downgraded' my choice to a pickup truck. i can *barely* save up enough in the next couple of months for a third down on a 2004-2008 pickup - but i have to move finances around (in a manner i'd rather not, because you really shouldn't with a trip reimbursement), *and* use whatever i'd saved for a fenced yard for the dogs. but ok, presumably, newer vehicle = better overall savings ability.
i narrowed down my choices to makes and models capable of doing what i needed and at that point, i need a person invested in cars to help me with the pros and cons of each choice. not the mpg, but 'these break down like this, but it's cheap' 'those break down like that, which is hella expensive, but they're good mpg' 'timing chains vs timing belts'... and when i mention this, just about everyone is all 'well, just do the research'. um, no. 'doing the research' of those kinds of items involves more understanding of cars *and* more interest in cars than i'm really invested in, especially if you're going thru several years of makes and models.
finally, finally, with this last set of visits to Goodyear, Dustin the Goodyear Guy says he'd be happy to go shopping with me when I narrow it down. i'd been describing at what point i was at, and he was 'hey, i'll do that. i'll come with you and look at trucks and help with the MAN discount, no problem.' so i took him at his word, and today i brought in the list of requirements (crew cab/ extended cab, standard/XLT bed, 4WD, towing package), and the list of models i'd come up with that people had said would have that, and we went through pros and cons.
alas, to the disappoint of my fannish side, the Dodge Ram 1500 is a cheap piece of crap of a vehicle, largely because they're all made in Mexico. hence, no Dodge Ram with Larabee spraypainted on the hood with 'i *am* the bad element!' for me.
otoh, the information i did get was gold. i've narrowed it down to Chevy/GMC vs Toyota, and the trade off is essentially durability for fix-it costs. Both will have around the same mileage and the Chevy has a timing chain instead of a belt.
so now i've narrowed down the choices to something i can handle, and i felt pretty happy coming home, like ok, i had problems, but i had a handle on it, and could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it might not even be a train.
and then i get home, and roomie tells me he ran over an iron bar of some kind with the lawn mower, which certainly wasn't in the yard before this week. and so we need a lawn mower mechanic because either the blades are bent, or the blade wheelbase-thingy is bent.
ARGH!
-bs
in the the last 3 weeks, the alternator went, and took the battery with it. fortunately, those were under warranty. unfortunately, roomie's alternator and battery went *at the same time*, and since this is the first time he's had to replace anything, his parts were *not* under warranty. and since his car is a honda accura, his parts are 3x as expensive as mine. i ended up paying for his car fix, so he could get to work. my total: $250. his total: $1100.
that next thursday, i got ill from something i ate at work. and then on the way home, the car stopped working. kaput. turns out it was the fuel pump and then, when they were on the test drive... the distributor assembly failed, so they had to tow the car back to the shop to fix it. total: $1300.
today, i took it in because what i thought was the accelerator fighting the floor mat (because that's the most frequent problem in the world when it comes to cars), was proven to be more since the car kept trying to stutter at stoplights even without the floormat on the driver's side. turned out one of the cylinders had bad wires in it. 10 minute fix. $200.
and all of that is *on top of* the $12k i've spent on the car just since I moved to this state, and the $1200 i spent to replace all the seals while i was still at my last place.
you don't have to say it, i know it, i've known since the beginning of the year that i needed a new car. in fact, the plan was to get a new car - an SUV, actually - *last year*. but i couldn't quite afford my house in spring, so i had to save 6mos more than i wanted to. which pushed back saving for the SUV - i wanted at least a third of the final price down on the loan. and saving for the car has been pushed back even more because every time i turned around this year, the camry broke. again.
and everyone who told me it was time - *i know*, darnit, but it was a matter of cost, and not just the cost of the car, but also the cost of the car *note*, because i knew the insurance would go up, and the car note was another bill i didn't want on top of the credit card debt and the student loan. and everyone who tells me they got their car fixed with the same problem - i'm at the point where they need to stop telling me that because my reply is 'then come over and fix it for free, if you can do better!'
the flip side of the problem is doing the research and deciding on a vehicle going forward. i'd been thinking, frex, an SUV, but the price is fairly expensive for me, even for a used vehicle. this means more savings time while trying to hold the camry together. so i mentally 'downgraded' my choice to a pickup truck. i can *barely* save up enough in the next couple of months for a third down on a 2004-2008 pickup - but i have to move finances around (in a manner i'd rather not, because you really shouldn't with a trip reimbursement), *and* use whatever i'd saved for a fenced yard for the dogs. but ok, presumably, newer vehicle = better overall savings ability.
i narrowed down my choices to makes and models capable of doing what i needed and at that point, i need a person invested in cars to help me with the pros and cons of each choice. not the mpg, but 'these break down like this, but it's cheap' 'those break down like that, which is hella expensive, but they're good mpg' 'timing chains vs timing belts'... and when i mention this, just about everyone is all 'well, just do the research'. um, no. 'doing the research' of those kinds of items involves more understanding of cars *and* more interest in cars than i'm really invested in, especially if you're going thru several years of makes and models.
finally, finally, with this last set of visits to Goodyear, Dustin the Goodyear Guy says he'd be happy to go shopping with me when I narrow it down. i'd been describing at what point i was at, and he was 'hey, i'll do that. i'll come with you and look at trucks and help with the MAN discount, no problem.' so i took him at his word, and today i brought in the list of requirements (crew cab/ extended cab, standard/XLT bed, 4WD, towing package), and the list of models i'd come up with that people had said would have that, and we went through pros and cons.
alas, to the disappoint of my fannish side, the Dodge Ram 1500 is a cheap piece of crap of a vehicle, largely because they're all made in Mexico. hence, no Dodge Ram with Larabee spraypainted on the hood with 'i *am* the bad element!' for me.
otoh, the information i did get was gold. i've narrowed it down to Chevy/GMC vs Toyota, and the trade off is essentially durability for fix-it costs. Both will have around the same mileage and the Chevy has a timing chain instead of a belt.
so now i've narrowed down the choices to something i can handle, and i felt pretty happy coming home, like ok, i had problems, but i had a handle on it, and could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it might not even be a train.
and then i get home, and roomie tells me he ran over an iron bar of some kind with the lawn mower, which certainly wasn't in the yard before this week. and so we need a lawn mower mechanic because either the blades are bent, or the blade wheelbase-thingy is bent.
ARGH!
-bs
