Maintaining a Convenient Car
My 1996 Honda Accord is having some problems. Every time I repair it,
something else happens. Now, I’m not talking about routine maintenance. I’m talking about a string of bad luck.
Early December, 2005
Someone hits my parked car and doesn’t leave a note. I call the police and they say that I have to bring the car in to get photographed for a claim to be made. I go to the police station and they say that they can only make a Property Damage report and won’t take pictures, since I have no proof that a car was the one to dent my door bumper-high and make paint smears along the door.
Finally in mid January I have enough time to take the car to State Farm-certified body shop who says that they’ll fix it. However, they want me to return another day to create the claim for me to submit to my insurance company and then return another day to put the car in their care for two weeks for them to fix it. I suggest that they prepare the photographs and estimate while they have the car, order the parts, and I’ll bring the car in when they are ready in order to reduce the time it is in their shop. Would you believe that I have to go as high as the general manager to get that request?
$250 deductible is all I had to pay of this $1,811.15 bill.
Mid Decmber, 2005
I pop a front tire on my way to bring food to a sick friend. There was an entire #$%ing bolt in my tire. I put on the spare in the cold cold rain. Now my jalopy has a spare on it and is dented while the auto body shop waits for parts.
$132.56 for new tires, thanks to a tire warranty.
Early February, 2006
The exhaust pipe falls off the underside of the car. It just drags along the road until I pull it into a gas station, get it on a lift, and have them re-attach the pipe supports. The car runs very loudly so I get it to my mechanic to fix.
$267.71 for a new pipe that leads to the muffler.
Late February, 2006
I notice that the car has another flat tire. Luckily it was on a back tire. Back to Merchants tire where I have to re-negotiate for the same deal I had on my front tires because their computer system is being migrated and my record is lost or something. They are unable to do an alignment so I’ll have to return.
$170.69 for new tires, thanks to a tire warranty.
February 24, 2006
Honda settles a class-action suit by issuing me an emissions tune-up.
$0
February 25, 2006
I get my car aligned and get a three-year warranty on the service. Turns out that my alignment was terribly off. Luckily I get a little discount for having recently bought four tires. During the alignment I am told that I need new brakes.
$122.39 well spent.
February 28, 2006
Bring the car to the mechanic to get new brakes and figure out what is rattling on the bottom of the car. I get new brakes, but the rattling continues. Worse, when I get home I see that there is steam coming out of the radiator.
$262.48 for this, but stay tuned for more.
