take my car to a mechanic

I was just thinking that i don’t use my car all that much, whenever i want to go to a friends house or to university or to a mart near or far, i just cycle there and i haven’t really used my car for over a month now. I checked its fuel guage which i filled over a month ago is still above halfway mark. In these times of increasing fuel prices, i really shouldn’t get the car fix and wait till they start making hybrid cars that run on water or electricity.

it’s been over a week, my cars air conditioning is not giving out any cool air. I like to sweat but not in this humid weather, not in a car. The AC is probably out of gas and it needs to be refilled. I wonder how much they charge for a small service like this. I also want to be able to buy a new car. I want to make money for a big shinny car, happiness is not a shinny new white car, happiness is not sitting under a tree lookin at a goat. happiness is a shinny new black car. A shinny new car which could do long distance along the coast. A shinny car that is a four wheel drive and swifts smoothly over sand dunes in hot desert.
Kamran who also lives in this compund just called me on my phone, He also borrows my car and takes his daughter on a ride around the neighborhood.

But once again there is something wrong with my car. Today when I went to leave for my class it wouldn’t turn over so I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ve about had it with the car, I had to have another $500 worth of repairs four months ago and that was on top of the previous $500 I had spent two months before that. I don’t even know if the cost of upkeep and insurance is worth having the car now.:(

So after that overheating mess I finally got around to taking my car in to a mechanic. The coolant switch was broken and fortunately that was easily fixed.

I’ve been driving around without worrying about over overheating and it is the GREATEST! I may have mentioned this before, but it is like driving a new car. Gone are my frustrations about being in traffic, my eyes are freed from the constant monitoring of the tempature gauge.

Ahh.. I wish I’d taken care of this long ago.

Next things to fix: Emergency parking brake & the difficult door lock on door behind the driver’s side.

Nope, did not want to pay that much. But my car IS running better. I just really hope it keeps running for a good while – it would stink to have paid that money and not have a working vehicle.

...this time for replacement of the CV boots and a tune up.

Then all my auto work will be done for awhile (except for replacing a cracked windshield – but it’s been cracked for 2+ years now, and it hasn’t cracked further – plus I just don’t have the $$ to replace it right now. Soon).

My car and I spent nearly all of Saturday afternoon at the mechanics. (OK - technically I was up the street at the coffeehouse for most of the time.) Four hours and nearly $500 later, I drove away with new brakes and a higher Mastercard bill. This doesn’t do much for my get out of debt goal - but I think I can pay off at least half this month and maybe the rest next month.

But it just feels wrong. (Can’t wait for the condescending looks from the auto repair guys when I say that). I know its something about the brakes or maybe I need new tires (with my luck I need both). Oh well, I get paid tomorrow and I suppose I’ll try to find somewhere to take it in the city. I think once I get this goal completed I might look into taking an auto maitainance class or maybe I’ll buy a book on it.

Well, I don’t think I got “TAKEN”, but it hurts. $600 worth of repairs, but the brake rotors and headlights will be fixed, and the alternator belt will be replaced.

The CV boots need to be done (they are cracked, but not yet torn), and a tune-up would be helpful. I can’t be without the car for an additional day, so I’m going to wait on getting those items completed – they are relatively simple/common issues, so I’m also going to call around and see if I can get a better/cheaper estimate from some other places.

Sucks to pay this kind of money, but it’s nice to know that my car’s brakes won’t suddenly fail on me! Whew. At least there are no major problems – all of these issues are due to parts genuniely wearing out, and not just breaking for no reason. Hopefully I’ve got a few more years of use in my little Honda…

I’m awfully nervous – it’s been awhile since I had to take it in for anything other than routine maintenance. Last time it needed actual repairs, I had to replace most of the exhaust system! Hopefully it won’t take them too long to figure out the cause of my malfunctioning headlights. The brakes problem will be a lot easier to manage (at least the diagnosis will be).