Sunday, April 6, 2008

LOTS of CAR PROBLEMS!!!!

WARNING--THIS IS A LONG ONE!!

Matthew and I have been having quite the time lately with our vehicles. We bought a used 4-runner in December for Matthew's Christmas present. It was awesome! A little hill-billyish with the custom made rack on top and the lift kit but lots of fun and it holds a lot more than either of our cars. We were excited to take it to the mountains to go tubing and camping. THEN. . . In January I decided to drive it in the snow for the first time (while mad) and slid through an intersection in our neighborhood and got hit. NOW, it has a big dent in the door and the running board is no help when trying to get in or out. Due to unfortunate circumstances, insurance will not pay to fix it. BUT, it's still drivable. (I just almost fall out every time because of the lift) It's very tall. Anyways, the back brake light and the front head light are also out. Last week we were driving it in the dark because of reasons you will soon read about and Matthew got pulled over. Luckily the cop was nice and he didn't get a ticket. Finally a little luck! (With that vehicle!)

Next, Matthew's car. A few years ago, he hit a cat. We didn't think it caused any damage so we didn't take it in to get worked on. Bad mistake #1. A few months later, the turbo stopped working. The warranty wouldn't cover it because apparently the cat had caused some visible body damage and they blamed the cat for the turbo. Dang!! We decided not to pay to fix it. Bad mistake #2. Then just recently it started making weird noises when he stopped or went over bumps. We realized it was dragging something but Matthew didn't seemed too concerned about getting it fixed. Bad mistake #3. Last month, he was on his way to work and every time he slowed down his car died. He barely got it back home. Because it has the turbo engine only a few places can fix it. We couldn't find a place that day so again, put it off. He thought he would just drive the 4-Runner. That was bad mistake #4 because NOW. . .
My car decided it was being left out!! I borrowed my moms car to move some furniture last week so she had my car. She tried to drive it to Kimi's house but, you guessed it, it wouldn't start!!!! We left it alone for the night and tired again the next day. NO luck! One good thing is that I have free towing up to 15 miles through my insurance. So. . . it got towed to get fixed. My car is an Oldsmobile Alero that is not made anymore so I was worried they wouldn't be able to find parts for it. They did but for a very high cost!! They had to replace my fuel pump which is located in the gas tank. I haven't picked it up yet but the news is that is cost around $600 to fix it!! Yikes!! Oh, well. I guess that's cheaper than buying a new car and having a car payment. Mine is paid off. Hopefully, things will get better. I get to pick it up tomorrow. Then Mom will get her car back, which means Dad will get his van back. We all traded and made sacrifices for each other. I'm so glad my family lives close by. They are so great to help!! Now we just have to find the money to fix Matthew's car so we don't have to spend so much in gas for the 4-Runner. The dent in the door will have to stay. I guess we will continue to look like red-necks when we drive it around. Oh well, at least we are safe and have a roof above our heads. We are seriously considering buying bikes now!!!! Just in case we ever need them!

2 comments:

Chadster and Brittster said...

My condolences...there is nothing more frustrating than car problems. When Chad wrecked his truck he made himself feel better by buying a brand new one...

Jeff and Andrea Neitzel said...

We had the same problem with Jeff's old Toyota. The fuel pump needed to be replaced and it was in the gas tank. We actually ended up replacing it ourselves just to avoid the high costs for someone else to fix it. I hope things start going better! Good luck!