The "Joy" of Car Ownership

[indiana_j]

Good news!  There was nothing actually hanging from the carriage of my car, so that's a relief.

Bad news!  In total, I'm looking at shelling out around $1,000 today!  Fuck!  The issues are:

a. That noise?  Not something dragging but, instead, the fact that I pretty much have no brakes left.
b.  A cracked belt
c.  The car needs all four tires replaced

They're also doing things such as changing the oil, cleaning the lights and doing the state inspection (since it's up this month anyway).

Ugh.  I mean, this is why I have savings but after this, savings will be back to nothing.  I keep telling myself that this is why I have savings but stiiiiill.  *sigh*  I spend upwards of 3 hours in my car every day, so this is important but it doesn't make it any less painful.

The guys were nice enough to drive me home since the car won't be ready until evening which was good because it was either they be nice like that or I'd be stuck with no internet at their shop and / or the Frost Dinner until 5 pm tonight. 

Screw this, I'm going to go have a nap.

Comments

[resplendissante.livejournal.com]

:( :( :( :( :(

This IS why you have savings, and you'll be able to build it back up, but that doesn't mean it doesn't completely suck. I'm so so so sorry. Boo.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon. It's disheartening because that's a lot of money but I'm just grateful I can pay for most of it with my savings and only have to put a very small amount on the credit card. I wouldn't have been able to do that last year.

And it's also a safety thing, so that's making the sting less so.

I foresee a lot of video games in my future today!

[ashlan.livejournal.com]

I'm suprised your brakes and tires got that bad. Do they get checked when you have an oil change? (unless you have 4 wheel drive, tires don't generally wear that evenly. )

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

I've only ever had to replace tires like once, maybe twice, the entire time I've had my car and that's been over 7 years now. I also do a lot of driving; I don't even know how many times my little car has driven me up and back to Toronto.

And I'm really bad about getting tires rotated. Like, ever.

[mike-smith.livejournal.com]

I've had the brakes go bad on me multiple times over the years. The squealing noise is supposed to let you know they're wearing out, but it comes along so gradually that I usually don't really notice it. Then the squealing goes away, and you start having the metal-on-metal noise you probably heard when you took it to the shop.

The last time I got them fixed, I did it at a CarX, and got a warranty on the replacement brake pads, so the next time they wore out I could get them replaced at no charge. I think it was worth it, since it's only a matter of time before it happens again. Of course, if you've managed to last seven years on one set of tires, maybe warranties aren't worth the cost.

[indiana-j.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much exactly how it happens to me, too. It just creeps up on me but because of the music and the noise of the drive, I don't hear it until it's too late. It sounds a lot like when I did actually have something dragging, which is a bit disconcerting, actually.

My place didn't offer a warranty on the brake pads but the new tires come with one automatically, which is nice. If I have to replace any of them within 70,000 miles, I can take it back to them and they can do something for me at a discounted rate. Not a 'true' warranty but better than full price.