Ka-ching

The Check Engine light came on in my car yesterday on the way home form work. Ugh. Today I called the dealer and was told to bring it on in. CarGuy asked me when I bought the car why I bought the extended warranty and I said I felt it was a good thing. I've never bought one before and really had no idea why I did this time. This is the second time I've used that warranty. Want to know what was wrong? My gas cap was old and the seal was cracking and there was no vacuum seal in the gas tank. The computer sensed that and came on. O! and when they lifted the hood they smelled burnt antifreeze. Got to checking and the head gasket was also cracked. So they did a stem to stern safety check. Need new transmission fluid (I knew that one) and new front brakes (I wondered on that one because they felt a bit mushy) but it hadn't started to bite into the brake rotors yet which was a good thing because it would be very expensive. So I decided to have them look at one of the power windows too. All-in-all the repairs are totaling $1600.00. My cost is $200. I have to pay my deductible, the gas cap and the transmission fluid. See? I told you I thought an extended warranty felt right this time. Listen to your intuition.

I've lived a lot of years with a car guy. Does it show? I remember several years back I went to Iowa for my niece's wedding with Auntie, TheKid's girlfriend at the time and my Grand Dog. On the way back, I accidentally filled up with corn gas. My mini van did NOT like that and the engine was dying on I-80. Not fun. At Council Bluffs I finally called a tow truck and was towed into town to the dealership. We spent the night in a dive motel that allowed animals and in the morning went back to the dealership. The service manager tried to sell me a new carburetor. A carburetor? Hello! my mini-van was fuel injected, there was no carburetor. Just button it back up and I'll be on my way. What beet truck do you think I fell from? Huh? I talked with the receptionist who happened to be from Colorado and she is the one that suggested the wrong gasoline. I topped the tank with good gas and had no problem from there on back to Colorado. But I think the corn gas led to the demise of the engine as I blew a head gasket several months later.

Another time, the serpentine belt in my car (an Eagle Talon) snapped and took out some of the ceramic seats on some of the pistons because the pistons were up when the belt snapped. Needed a whole top end on the engine that time.

I just want a car that doesn't break like that. Is that asking too much? O, and my car will be ready on Tuesday, so my mode of transportation this weekend is on two wheels.