I hate cars !

[ChasDen]

Last week the daughters car (college student living at home) got a flat tire. So I get the call to go to her place of part time employment and "fix it". Although the tire is not completely flat it is almost hitting the rim. So I change the tire and take it with me to work the next day. I drop it off a national tire place and tell them it has a slow leak. Sure enough that night when I go to pick it up it was the valve steam leaking. He hands it to me and says no charge. I think great and off I go. I get home and start to roll it and hear a clunking noise in the tire. I take it back the next day and they break it down and find not 1 but 2 valve steams inside the tire. I guess the genius who did it pushed the bad one into the tire instead of doing it right and must have pushed one all the way thru when fixing it. Instead of tearing it down to get them he just aired it up and sent me on my way. OK now I have the tire fixed. I get home and jack the car up, change it and realize they have mounted the tire on backwards. I now have 3 tires with the tread going one way and the odd guy out going the other. Disgusted at this point I am ready to snap. I start to smell a faint smell of gas so I investigate and find a small gas leak in the gas lines that run from the tank to the front. I make a few calls and decide I can fix this. I spend the first night tearing out all rusted brackets that hold the gas line and break lines up, separated them, cut out the rusted sections and call it a night. I get all the parts the next day get home and jack it up. A few busted knuckles and a bunch of four letter words later the gas line is all fixed. I fire it up, let it run a few minutes and no leaks. Success,

NOOOOOOO I get in the car, for some reason press down on the brake and it goes all the way to the floor. I look under the car and one of the brake lines is now split in half and brake fluid is everywhere. Upon further investigation it appears that all the brake lines and gas lines were rusted together and by removing the brackets they are now junk too. So I tow the car up the street, just less than 2 miles ($50 bucks), and they tell me they will call me the next morning with a quote. They guess about $300 or so but will have to look at it.

Today I get the call and they tell me it’s going to be over $1200.00. I’m like what?

After a few minutes of haggling he tells me maybe $800. It’s 11 almost 12 years old and is not worth 800 let alone 1200. So tomorrow morning after the wife gets off work we are taking the daughter car shopping, I think I would rather have all my teeth pulled.

Oh well I guess the wife will have to wait a while longer before she gets hers.
Last week we were on our way to start looking for hers and a truck kicked up a rock and broke the windshield.
On the way to look for a new one! amazing

Rant over, Just needed to vent while I smoked my cigar.

Chas

[Opusfxd]

Dude, I'm feeling for you. Have another, it might make you forget about it for a couple minutes.

[CoopnGA]

Thats a rough week...Hopefully you don't run into any more issues.

[sailchaser]

That's not a fun week but I'm glad you found all the crap wrong when you did verses you daughter getting hurt driving it

[ChasDen]

Originally Posted by sailchaser

That's not a fun week but I'm glad you found all the crap wrong when you did verses you daughter getting hurt driving it

Thats what I keep telling myself and the wife. Thats why I took it to the pros to fix the brakes.

Oh well I may need a bottle and a few cigars tomorrow night.

Chas

[ChasDen]

Well its 9 AM and everyone is all getting ready for a fun day of car shopping, they act like we are going to the beach

All excited and happy.


I better take 3 cigars for this one

Its going to be a long day.
Chas

[BlazinOrange]

Ive been having similar luck with vehicles, I recently (Sunday) dropped my streetbike and take a guess where it landed....... on my truck. So I have two damaged vehicles. I feel you, but try to keep positive even though you feel like going bezerk.

[qwerty1500]

Sounds like you need to buy a boat too ... I just know you'll love it ...

[Gone Dave]

No you need to buy a 70's Harley Davidson, complete with card board floor protector!
But seriously all that SUCKS!!

Originally Posted by qwerty1500

Sounds like you need to buy a boat too ... I just know you'll love it ...

[ChasDen]

Well that was fun, NOT

All is well that ends well, I guess.

After 2 hours of haggling and credit apps, the child earned a hard life lesson. YOU NEED CREDIT. The banks would not give her the loan by herself (full time student, working part time) and her mother and I could not be used as a co-signer because we already have 2 car loans. So home we came and the begging stage began. 2 hours latter we were back in the car and off to the dealer with the reluctant grandmother as the co-signer. 4 more hours of test drives, more haggling and signing her life away she is the proud new owner of a 2006 Saturn ION. 20,000 miles, balance of factory warranty, extended warranty, roadside assistance, free oil changes for 3 years and best of all she is now off my insurance and on her own policy. That should save me something

I have had 3 cigars today and on my 2nd crown and 7 since I got home.

All that is left is to decide what to smoke while I watch the race tonight.

Chas

[JacksonCognac]

Hey Chris,

That really sucks, but it sounds as if you have some knowledge of car repair which is invaluable IMO so you are a good 2 steps ahead of most of us average assholes.

My question is what car did your daughter have initially?? Just curious at this point. Thanks

Dan

[ChasDen]

It was a 97 Pontiac grand am. 1350000 miles, but paid for

Chas

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by ChasDen

It was a 97 Pontiac grand am. 1350000 miles, but paid for

Chas

Guess it was time for new one anyway with over a million and a quarter miles on it.

[gnukfu]

Originally Posted by madurolover

Guess it was time for new one anyway with over a million and a quarter miles on it.

No wonder the thing died!

My ex-wife and daughter both have/had Saturns. They like them. One other thing my daughter totaled hers in a highway accident - not her fault. She walked away with just a banged up knee. The car suffered but it protected her which is a big plus from a Dad's viewpoint.

[ChasDen]

Originally Posted by madurolover

Guess it was time for new one anyway with over a million and a quarter miles on it.

I wish I guess there is 1 too many 0's there. 135 K.

Originally Posted by gnukfu

No wonder the thing died!

My ex-wife and daughter both have/had Saturns. They like them. One other thing my daughter totaled hers in a highway accident - not her fault. She walked away with just a banged up knee. The car suffered but it protected her which is a big plus from a Dad's viewpoint.

The car is a "chick" car (no offense lady's) as far as I am concerned but I do think it is a safe little car, so yes that would make dad happy.

Good news taking the old car and her off our policy saves me about $600 a year. Bad news is the daughter came home last night in tears because the check engine light came on and the right front tire is loosing air. The tire is no problem since it was low on the lot and they just filled it. That will be fixed easy enough. The check engine light sent me into a meltdown this morning no one wanted to see. They gave her a car off the lot to drive while they "service" it. I told them I want a complete diagnostics print out or they can keep the car.

So we will see tomorrow. Dang I do not want to go through this again.

To top it all of today is tax filling day here, so I'm in a "mood" already.

Chas