snadblog

Well, the Blazer lasted a day or so and then the transmission problem returned.

You get what you pay for, I guess.  Sigh.

My ‘97 Chevy Blazer (a.k.a. “Rocky”) has had more than its share of troubles, and this year has started out with a new doozy. Around the middle of January, the transmission started acting up in a way that made me think things were going seriously downhill. Whenever I would take off from a standstill, the truck just wouldn’t GO. It was like I had to convince the gas pedal that I really meant it, and beg it to please increase the speed. The engine did still work, and seemed fine once it got going, but it became dangerous to merge with traffic because I couldn’t accelerate fast enough. I finally found a way to describe it sufficiently to the men in my life — it was like I was driving a stick and taking off in 2nd speed.

So I took it to a local transmission shop, prepared for the worst. We weren’t sure the truck was worth expensive repairs, even though I love that Blazer desperately. We hoped it would be an easy decision to make and we didn’t need a whole new transmission. They called a few days later and said that there was a slight electrical issue that was blowing the fuse repeatedly, putting the transmission in “safety” mode, which meant that it was driving around in second gear all the time. (Hah! See?) They said they fixed it easily enough, though, and surprisingly didn’t charge us a cent for the work, saying “Eh, you’ve given us enough business this year already.”

I was delighted with the results, until a couple days later when I realized that it was happening again. Same symptoms, same frustration. Dennis took it back to the shop to give them another chance. He told them there was no hurry, because we had an extra car and didn’t need it fixed right away.

A piece of advice: don’t ever say that to a mechanic. We dropped the Blazer off on January 21st. Today is February 25 and I just got it back.

After they’d had it a couple of weeks, I started calling them to check on it. Why was it taking so long? Did they find the problem? When will I get my truck back? Every call ended with them assuring me that they were still working on the problem and would call me in a day or two. Last Wednesday they finally said “We were under the impression from your husband that this was an extra car and you didn’t need it done quickly.” I said “Yeah, but that was weeks ago, and this is MY car. I would like it back.” I also voiced my primary concern — were we racking up diagnostic charges this entire time? They’d never gotten us to approve ANYthing, and they’d had the truck for weeks. How many hours of labor were we going to be charged for? The guy assured me that they stop the clock after two hours of diagnostics, and that the first hour is free. So, we were on the books for $137.50 and nothing more unless we approved it. That made me feel better, as did his promise to step it up in the priority list and call me the next day with results.

Of course, no call came Thursday, Friday, or Monday. On Tuesday (yesterday), I asked Dennis to call them again. They were working on it, and almost had it. We were to expect a call today. Finally, the call came this morning! My truck was fixed and ready to be picked up.

We just went to pick it up. No dollar amount was mentioned on the phone, and I had no idea what they’d done to finally fix it, or what it would cost. The guy pulled the truck around for me, smiled, and said “Let us know if you have any problems!” This was familiar… I couldn’t believe it… he wasn’t charging us a penny. AGAIN. I’m not sure I understand how they operate their business. I’m glad to benefit from it, sure, but never in the world would I expect to have a car in the shop for 5 weeks for zero dollars.

I drove the Blazer home and all was smooth and it accelerated properly. I’ll know better after a few days if they really fixed the problem or not, but in the meantime I am really, REALLY glad to have my truck back. For the last month, I’ve been going back and forth between driving the gigantic Dodge pickup and the tiny Ford Probe, neither of which suit me at all. I am ready to be back in my mid-sized vehicle that fits me just right and is always sitting there waiting for me. I’m also happy to have all my “car stuff” back within reach, like my CDs, a new pack of TicTacs, and the cell phone charger that I got for Christmas but haven’t had a chance to use because it’s been in the Blazer this whole time.

Fingers crossed that the repair sticks this time!

I spent the weekend of July 20-22 in the Chicago area, on an unusual but fun trip with my friend Rita. The primary goal of the trip was for me to attend the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show — a semi-annual gathering of craft and hobby merchandisers and buyers from around the country. The show is not open to the public, but because I am a member of the Design Team for a local scrapbook store, I was lucky enough to get an employee pass, and I was super eager to go. Even though my best attempts at getting a second ticket to the show failed, Rita agreed to go with me on the trip. Just seeing Chicago (one of her favorite towns) was enough for her, and I was thrilled to have the company. Of particular interest to her was the fact that we’d be able to stop at the Schaumburg IKEA on the way home!

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My husband Dennis has always been a driver. He spent most of his teenage years behind the wheels of whatever vehicles he and his friends could afford, whether they be cars, trucks, or dirt bikes. As he grew older, almost all of the jobs he held involved driving. And what happens when you spend your life driving? You learn to spot little things along the road that most people wouldn’t even notice.

In our first years together, he was constantly finding animals. I saw Dennis come home with kittens and puppies which he spotted from the driver’s seat. He topped it all the day he came home with a gerbil that he had seen running down the sidewalk. A gerbil! He had pulled over, gotten out of the car, and chased a gerbil down the sidewalk until he caught it and saved it from certain death in the street. I became pretty good at finding homes for all of his animals, and folks at work learned to be wary when I stopped by their offices out of the blue, begging them to take the latest critter. We placed lots of animals, although nobody wanted that gerbil (which we kept for years… I didn’t think that thing would ever die!).

Then he seemed to find more objects than animals. He once spotted a tent that was blowing down the road on a particularly windy day. (We still use that tent for camping!). He found a Christmas tree that had fallen off a car roof and gave it to a friend who couldn’t afford one. He found a new, empty, 50-gallon fuel tank that had fallen off a truck on the highway. At least I didn’t have to find homes for these things.

Lately, though, he seems to have a knack for finding vehicles. It started when he spotted a “great car” that a “nice lady” was selling “so cheap” that he just had to buy it. His plan was to sell it and make some money. It turned out to be a good move, I guess, because we did make a couple hundred bucks on it, but as it typically turns out, I was the one who found a home for the latest “saved” treasure.

Last week he found another vehicle that needed him to save it. It was a pristine scooter with only 99 miles on it, and he spotted it while driving by a car dealership that was selling it for a “really low price”. He snatched it up, sure he could re-sell it and make some money off of it. However, he’s been spending the last week trying to convince me I should keep it for myself. The 100 mpg it gets is tempting, but I’m just not sure I would have many occasions to drive somewhere by myself with no need for cargo room. It’s 50cc and technically a motorcycle (according to the state), so I’d have to get a motorcycle license and drive in traffic (pro? or con?). We will probably hang on to it at least until we travel to Sanibel, Florida this summer. We’ll take it along and it will be fantastically fun on the island. After that, who knows. Anybody want to buy a scooter?

Most of you have heard my tales of car woes before. On the good end, there was the time I ran out of gas while driving and coasted along the first available turn-off, which happened to be a gas station. On the bad end, there was the time we used my Blazer to haul a trailer to NY and the Blazer’s engine started knocking so bad that we knew it was toast, so we pulled into a car lot and bought a new truck so we could continue our journey. And don’t forget the fact that we stopped to get the Blazer on the way back home and Dennis completely replaced the entire engine. Then in the middle, there have been dead batteries, exploded water pumps, and faulty fuel pumps.

What I’m here to tell you today is that this is not just my curse. It’s family-wide, as evidenced by the troubles my sister Shanon and her husband Mike have had over the last seven weeks.

Our parents were going to buy a new car and trade in their old Jeep. Since Mike’s Pathfinder was “about to die” anyway, they were working a deal with my parents to trade in his car instead, and him keep the Jeep. On January 8th, just as The Great Car Trade-in was all about to go down, Shanon got in an accident (everyone’s okay!), thanks to a woman who screamed through a red light and slammed into the back of Shanon’s Neon as she was turning. The Neon was totalled, and fortunately the woman’s insurance covered it well. Shanon and Mike decided to use the money to buy the Jeep outright for what my folks would’ve gotten as a trade-in. Shanon would take the Pathfinder (which she preferred) to replace the Neon, and Mike would take the Jeep. Seemed like a good idea, and maybe we were past this vehicular hurdle in their lives.

Within a week of Mike taking over the Jeep, the airbag light on the dash lit up. This had happened before, and Mom had taken it to the shop many times, but the mechanics could never get it to light up when they had it. Still, from time to time it would light up, beep, and then go off. Well for Mike, it lit up and stayed on. He drove it straight to the shop and they told him that the airbag trigger was stuck and the airbag could inflate at any moment, if the car were shaken in just the right manner. In the course of fixing the airbag, the mechanics managed to completely BREAK the steering column, and apologetically called to tell Mike that they would have to replace it all. Fortunately it didn’t cost much to fix, but Mike was without the car for a week, so it was a hassle.

The day after Mike got the Jeep back, the brakes went out on Shanon’s Pathfinder. The calipers were almost completely disintegrated, and the mechanic said he was surprised she was able to stop at all. Dad, Mike, and Dennis replaced the brakes in the garage one day, saving them a lot of money. Okay, so now we’re good. Right?

Then the oil pressure gauge went haywire on the Pathfinder. It’s in the shop now getting a new $900 oil pump, and we’re hoping that will fix it (or else a $2000 engine repair would be required). Okay, surely THAT’s all, right? Please?

Nope. Last night the water pump on the Jeep exploded. It’s in the shop today, along with the Pathfinder, getting repaired. Shanon and Mike hope to be able to drive their own cars again by the end of the week, and hopefully THIS will be the end of their troubles, at least for awhile.

So what are we all driving in the meantime? After Shanon’s accident, she drove a rental car for a week while waiting on the insurance money. Then, it was pretty weird when Mom got her new car: the Neon was gone, Shanon started driving Mike’s Pathfinder, Mike started driving Mom’s Jeep, and Mom got a new car. Just when my two-and-a-half-year-old neice Emily started to understand that switcheroo, Mike drove a rental car for a week while his Jeep was getting a new steering column. Then the Pathfinder had the oil pump problem, so Shanon drove dad’s pickup for a day, then switched with Dennis, and is now driving his Escort (which is better suited for a car seat) and I’m driving Dad’s pickup. Why aren’t I driving my own Blazer? Because it is currently filled with diesel fuel (shame on Dennis!) and is waiting to be drained so that it doesn’t explode (see, I told you it was a curse!). And now that Mike’s Jeep is in the shop, he’s got yet another rental car for the day.

So none of the cars at my house belong to me. None of the cars at Shanon and Mike’s house belong to them. Three cars are currently waiting for repairs, and my folks are sitting pretty with their new car.

Maybe it’s just a Baker *children* curse?