My Car is in The Pits, But it Ain't Nascar!
The day before I was due to leave for Vegas, I was running a few errands. As I was driving around town, I kept hearing a scraping noise. Oh no, now what, I thought. When I got back home into my garage, it was then that I noticed that my muffler on my car was almost dragging on the ground!! Geez! Well, it was too late to do anything that day, as it was already almost 5 p.m, and I would just have to tackle this problem upon my return from Vegas.
But it really bummed me out. Approx. 3 months ago, I had my Corvair mechanic (specialist) put a rebuilt engine in my car. His shop is located in south San Jose, more than 50 miles south of San Francisco, so while it was down there, I told him to check everything on the car and give me a report of what it needed, since getting down there and back is a hassle. Depending on the cost, I told him I'd have to get work done on it on a priority basis. However, I made it VERY clear to him to take a good look at the WHOLE car. He had it down there for over a month, since I coudn't get the time or money to go get it right away after he finished, so he had plenty of time to check things out.
One week after I got the car back, the fan belt flew off, and I got stuck in the City and had to be towed back to my garage. Came to find out later, that it was more than just the fan belt..... the harmonic balancer (what? I have an orchestra under my car?) under the belt area had broken in half! Hmmmmm... a coincidence?? Well, had to call my mechanic and get him up here to fix it, which he did do a whole week later when he came up with his girlfriend in tow.
But only a couple of weeks or so after that, the brakes went out on me right during the week my Australian friends were visiting here (little did they know that they were having a REAL thrill ride down the San Fran hills and almost ended up in the Bay)! Again, I had to tow it to a local shop, only to find out the it was the front master and wheel cylinders that were shot! That took a total of 5 days while the shop tried to locate the right parts!
Ten days after that, I discovered I had a totally flat tire, right down to the rim!! AGAIN, had to have the car towed to the tire shop, where I then was told it needed at least 2 new tires. But alas, the type of tires I currently had on the car were now obsolete! So in order to get 2 new tires, I really had to get 5 new tires.... 4 for the car and 1 for the spare!!! More money out the door!
And then after that, one night my neighbor calls and says "Karen, did you know your car is leaking a bunch of red liquid all over the garage floor???"... ACHHHHHH!! I almost fell over went I went down to my garage and saw that transmission fluid was in large puddles under the front AND back of my car!! I immediately called my Corvair mechanic, and his reply was "Well, that's normal if it isn't driven often"... SAY WHAT?! No, no, no, no!! I HAVE been driving it, and besides, since when is a major leak NORMAL??? The following day, slowly and very carefully, I drove it down to a local transmission shop, and was informed that the pan underneath where the transmission fluid runs had screws loose and ALL my transmission fluid had leaked out!! Well, there were some screws loose, all right, and they weren't all just under my car!
And, now there was the latest malfunction, the muffler falling off! Plus, the car still doesn't sound quite right when I start it up!
Now, I know my car is OLD, 40 years old, to be exact! However, are all these things just 'coincidences' after my mechanic was told to check everything? When I informed him about all these things, his nonchalant response was "Well, you didn't tell me to check THOSE things!"... Do I, as a consumer, have to tell a mechanic exactly what to check??!! Isn't that why we bring our cars to an 'expert' in the first place?? I am not the mechanic, and I am not knowledgable enough to know exactly what parts to tell him to check, for Pete's sake! Shouldn't a good mechanic do routine checks of these important parts of my vehicle???! Especially since he knows I am driving in a city of hills and need safe brakes and tires! What's your take on this??
Well, I still owe him $600 for the engine rebuild, but guess what. He ain't getting it yet! Because of all the other problems I've had and the money spent on that, he will now have to just wait!
Yes, It's the PITS having car problems!
But it really bummed me out. Approx. 3 months ago, I had my Corvair mechanic (specialist) put a rebuilt engine in my car. His shop is located in south San Jose, more than 50 miles south of San Francisco, so while it was down there, I told him to check everything on the car and give me a report of what it needed, since getting down there and back is a hassle. Depending on the cost, I told him I'd have to get work done on it on a priority basis. However, I made it VERY clear to him to take a good look at the WHOLE car. He had it down there for over a month, since I coudn't get the time or money to go get it right away after he finished, so he had plenty of time to check things out.
One week after I got the car back, the fan belt flew off, and I got stuck in the City and had to be towed back to my garage. Came to find out later, that it was more than just the fan belt..... the harmonic balancer (what? I have an orchestra under my car?) under the belt area had broken in half! Hmmmmm... a coincidence?? Well, had to call my mechanic and get him up here to fix it, which he did do a whole week later when he came up with his girlfriend in tow.
But only a couple of weeks or so after that, the brakes went out on me right during the week my Australian friends were visiting here (little did they know that they were having a REAL thrill ride down the San Fran hills and almost ended up in the Bay)! Again, I had to tow it to a local shop, only to find out the it was the front master and wheel cylinders that were shot! That took a total of 5 days while the shop tried to locate the right parts!
Ten days after that, I discovered I had a totally flat tire, right down to the rim!! AGAIN, had to have the car towed to the tire shop, where I then was told it needed at least 2 new tires. But alas, the type of tires I currently had on the car were now obsolete! So in order to get 2 new tires, I really had to get 5 new tires.... 4 for the car and 1 for the spare!!! More money out the door!
And then after that, one night my neighbor calls and says "Karen, did you know your car is leaking a bunch of red liquid all over the garage floor???"... ACHHHHHH!! I almost fell over went I went down to my garage and saw that transmission fluid was in large puddles under the front AND back of my car!! I immediately called my Corvair mechanic, and his reply was "Well, that's normal if it isn't driven often"... SAY WHAT?! No, no, no, no!! I HAVE been driving it, and besides, since when is a major leak NORMAL??? The following day, slowly and very carefully, I drove it down to a local transmission shop, and was informed that the pan underneath where the transmission fluid runs had screws loose and ALL my transmission fluid had leaked out!! Well, there were some screws loose, all right, and they weren't all just under my car!
And, now there was the latest malfunction, the muffler falling off! Plus, the car still doesn't sound quite right when I start it up!
Now, I know my car is OLD, 40 years old, to be exact! However, are all these things just 'coincidences' after my mechanic was told to check everything? When I informed him about all these things, his nonchalant response was "Well, you didn't tell me to check THOSE things!"... Do I, as a consumer, have to tell a mechanic exactly what to check??!! Isn't that why we bring our cars to an 'expert' in the first place?? I am not the mechanic, and I am not knowledgable enough to know exactly what parts to tell him to check, for Pete's sake! Shouldn't a good mechanic do routine checks of these important parts of my vehicle???! Especially since he knows I am driving in a city of hills and need safe brakes and tires! What's your take on this??
Well, I still owe him $600 for the engine rebuild, but guess what. He ain't getting it yet! Because of all the other problems I've had and the money spent on that, he will now have to just wait!
Yes, It's the PITS having car problems!
posted by LADYGOLD at 9:56 PM
