You may remember me ranting a bit about our van recently. It has needed several major repairs this year. In fact, we've spent more than $3,000 on vehicle fixes in 2008. Not counting basic maintenance such as gas and oil.
Well, recently the head cracked in the van, taking one of the lifters with it. The shop we use had it for twelve days. 12 days. We got it back this past Tuesday.
Then, two days after we got it back, a valve stem cracked on the left front tire, giving us a slow leak. My son fetched it before our local tire shop closed and got it fixed. This was Thursday.
The day after that - THE DAY AFTER THAT - my wife tells me the steering wheel column won't lock, so the steering wheel moves up and down while you're driving. This was just yesterday. She left work early and had the guys at our repair shop fix that.
Now, this morning - THE THIRD DAY IN A ROW SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG - we discover that our windshield wipers no longer work. And it's snowing today. Gotta have wipers to drive.
My friends, this van situation has gone from the annoying to the frustrating to the ridiculous to the I've-gotta-laugh-or-I'm-going-to-hit-something-hard.
So I'm fighting back with a little thing I'm calling, "The Twelve Van Repairs of Christmas." It's sung to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas and I'll spare you the each day routine and just go right to the summary. Remember to sing from this point on:
THE TWELVE VAN REPAIRS OF CHRISTMAS
On the twelfth day in the garage,
My mechanic said I'll need:
12 days of labor
A new carburetor
Brake seals and linings
New spark plug wires
Clean fuel injectors
Radiator fluids
Air and oil filters
AN AL-TER-NATOR
4 brand new tires
3 wheel bearings
2 windshield wipers
And a very large amount of money!
2 comments:
Hi Mark,
I love your blog; but to quote part of your title for this post, come on! As tough as the economy is right now, it sounds like it's time to trade in the old van for a new or at least a used one.
I also have a tendency to hang on to my vehicles until they die, but if what you've described isn't a "near death experience" I don't know what is.
By the way, apart from my impending investment in the Big 3 through the taxpayer funded "bridge loans", I am in no way affiliated with any part of the auto industry. ;-)
Good Luck,
John
John, you're absolutely right. In fact, over a week ago the missus and I did, indeed, make some inquiries with a friend who works for an auto dealership regarding the purchase of a new vehicle.
Sadly, it was still out of our budget. We will have a huge loan paid off next June and that is our target date for a new van. It's just a matter of keeping this one running until then (stocking up on the spit, duct tape, and baling wire as I type).
Thanks for letting me blow off some steam here on the ol' blog.
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