Friday, November 05, 2010

 The Car Saga

So let me tell you a little story about the nightmare that was my car on my drive out here to Cali...

The week before I left I got a brand new muffler on the Purple Saturn, as well as new wipers and an oil change. All this was about $150 bux. Worth it before a drive cross country, right? During the oil change I had him to a check of everything else to make sure there would be no problems on the drive. All clear! Let's go!

Day one we drove to New Orleans, about an 8 hour drive, and it went very smoothly. Had a lovely evening there and then set off in the morning with the goal of San Antonio. As we were driving through LA (on a VERAH hot day I might add) it didn't seem the car was cooling well. This sucks not only because it was 115 degrees out (no, not an exaggeration for once) but also because the cats were melting. And Seamus has his CHF problems so this was a big issue for him... So we thought we'd stop at the next town and see if maybe the AC just needed a recharge.

Guess what? It did not need a recharge. It was not the AC. It was the clutch thingamobby thing that runs the compressor that does something to the serpentine belt. The same belt runs the AC, the water pump, and the alternator. Fortunately for us, the AC was the first symptom. The rest would be shortly following, and the car would then be inoperable. Ok, so how bad would this be to fix, I ask? $1600 and 3 days, I was told. NOT an option I decided.

So I had two choices. Rent a car for the rest of the trip and the 3 months I'd be in Cali for a whole lot of money and still have no car at the end of this, OR I could buy a new used car on the spot. I went with choice B.

After test driving a few cars, I found a 2002 Hyundai Accent (which I had before and LOVED) with under 50k miles on it for only 4500, which we talked down to 4250. WOOT WOOT!

The car drove great, and the first time we stopped to get gas we found a minor problem (so we thought) that the gas kept clicking off as if it was full when it wasn't. After talking to some friends who knew cars, the consensus was some type of clog on the fuel filter, an easy fix. Since the problem was just annoying, it was no big deal and could wait to be fixed.

So the only real problem I had now was that I had temporary tags that expired while I was still here. Unfortunately, I figured I'd have to get the car registered in Cali. This sucked, but seemed the only option. I looked into the cost--- $621!! Plus a "smog check"! Well so be it, no choice.

Well after a few weeks here, my engine light came on. I ignored it for a few weeks, and yesterday I brought the car in for it's "smog check" and to get the engine light checked. Well guess what? You can't pass the smog check with the engine light on! (Oh and this smog check costs $50, and the check engine check costs $90 before they even do anything to fix it!)

It turns out that it's not just a clog in my filter, it's the filter itself has broken down and pieces of charcoal are floating through the fuel line. They are causing the problem with the gas filling, so the only good news I can think of is that the problem I knew about and the engine light problem are one in the same instead of two different ones. The bad news is this is $550+ but to fix, plus another $60 for a reset fee or something stupid like that due to California laws, and then the $50 for the smog check making it be almost $700 to get the car ready to register, PLUS the $621 to register it...

Ugh.

So I have been desperately trying to find another option other than registering it in Cali. I spent over an hour on hold with Georgia yesterday checking to see if there was any way I could either transfer the Saturn tags over or get some temporary thing, but I never could get through.

I tried NC even since my drivers license is still there, to see if there was anything I could do online, but no such luck.

My only hope was to BEG the state of Louisiana for an extension on my temporary tags. They had a place where I could email, so I wrote them the most pathetic mail ever.

I heard back today. They said I just had to ask my seller!

Now of course the seller has to agree to this. But I am hoping he has no problem doing this for me. I am going to first try just asking. If that doesn't inspire him, I am going to try guilting him that he sold me a car with these repair needs. If that doesn't work I'm going to offer to pay him $100 for his troubles to do this. I pray and cross my fingers that the first option works and I don't have to go with choice b or c, and secondly I pray that if the first doesnt, that b or c does and I dont have to pay all this money to California!

I still have to spend 550 for the repair and get it registered when I get back to Georgia, but it'll be a lot cheaper now, and a lot less stress.

So cross your fingers for me that the car saga will end up with good news :)

I'll keep you posted!

Posted by Acinom @ 9:04 PM