Sean and I just got back from the Mechanic. We brought our car in because of a pretty funky issue we were having, unfortunately I was the only one to ever seem to experience this issue. Whenever I would turn on the car the battery light would come on, knowing it’s a good battery I assumed it could be the alternator not properly sending charge to the battery. This wasn’t the case at all.
I asked my neighbor of 20 years if he could take a look at it for me, because it’s an issue where I just didn’t feel safe driving the car, so of course I’ll talk to an off-the-clock mechanic before I actually bring it in to one. He turned on the car and saw the battery light almost instantly go on, he then noticed that the air conditioner was shooting out hot air and that’s not normal. A few moments later the hood started smoking – we’re leaking anti-freeze. He told us that we’d need a serpentine belt, possibly a water pump and maybe a hose or two fixed but he couldn’t tell where other leaks were coming from, being as they were covered in anti-freeze.
So we call up the garage up the block, talk to the ball-busting mechanic and was told to bring the car in on Tuesday (mind you – this was Friday). For the past few days we’ve been bored out of our minds, it’s not that there’s nothing going on here it’s that we’re used to just being able to get up and go and being kind of stuck for a few days doesn’t help our moods. I know I was bored out of my mind on Saturday, to the point that I was about to pop a gasket.
We’ve used my sister’s car for the quick errands, I really hate driving her car. While it handles well, she needs rear-brakes and it would help if she had rear break lights as well. There’s a big hole on her bumper that is causing the wiring underneath to corrode and when it rains she just has no back-end lights at all. No blinker, no rear breaks – nothing. So of course making the attempt to drive this thing at night was absolutely stupid of us. She can deal with the tickets, we certainly don’t want to.
So since it was so bright out and close to impossible to actually see the back-end lights thanks to the way the sun is sitting in the sky – we were able to safely make it to the mechanic. It only cost us $300 for a water pump, serpentine belt and a refill on the anti-freeze. A very good price considering the estimate was $380 (originally). I’m not sure if the name-dropping helped the price (considering my grandfather knows the guy) but either way, someone’s on our side.
So he drove my sisters car home and I drove ours. And the reason for “Hot damn!” – it drives better than it ever has before, we very obviously have needed a water pump for a while now but I think since we only ever seem to do short-term in-town driving, it really didn’t matter too much. The 5 hour drive from Delaware to New York is basically what did it for us. Thankfully it happened after we had made it to town, it’s not like we were stranded on the Southern State Parkway or anything. We managed to make it to the North Shore with absolutely no issues at all – and I have to say I’m pleased about that.
So everything is perfect now, we’ll figure out when we’re going to head back down to Delaware but at the advice of the mechanic, we’re going to stay up here for a day or two to drive the car on short distances and then go from there. I’m not sure if we’re going anywhere tonight, but he’s talking about picking up dinner so maybe we’ll wind up going out and doing something. If not tonight, we may take a quick trip to New Hyde Park tomorrow and poke around at a few different places – I know there’s a comic book store there that he wanted to see, and I know I want to see if PETS is still there so I can stand outside and warn people of the horrible condition they leave their animals in. Thank god for veterinarians, or I wouldn’t have her.
Never buy a dog, cat, small mammal, fish, or reptile at PETS of New Hyde Park, they’re sleazy assholes.
Isn’t it funny how sometimes getting your car worked on can be better? I bet you’ll get better gas mileage now too. I’ll take your advice about that pet store. Did you buy an animal from there?
Hello Monavie,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, I bought my dog, Bella, from that store. It cost me about $10,000 in vet bills to keep her alive. The dogs may look clean, and the vet they pay-off swore that she was in perfect health but two days later she became extremely ill and it’s been a spiraling run of medical issues since then. She was taken from her birth mother and father when she was only 4 weeks old, so she wasn’t old enough to be adopted. By the time I’d gotten to her she was the legally-adoptable 10 weeks old. Since then it’s been one issue after another.
While they aren’t fully responsible for the conditions the animals are in, being as Puppy mills play a big role. I do think it’s pretty screwed up to buy an animal for $200 and then sell the same animal with a $1500 mark-up when they’re so obviously sick.
Her brother (in the cage with her when I adopted her) passed away three days later. So obviously I got to her just in time. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t take more home with me to spare their little lives.
Apologies for the rambling, I’m just a little too passionate about this topic.
Don’t apologize, I know how you feel! That is a lot to pay but she is a lucky dog that you got to her in time. I had a pet store sell me a rabbit that died about a week later for the same reasons-they shouldn’t have taken him from his mom that young. It is heartbreaking to see the shape some of these animals are in and the stress they go through. I wish I could do more too. I don’t even buy animals from pet stores anymore because I can’t stand paying that much for a pet that isn’t healthy. I wish I could help them, but buying them isn’t going to stop the problem, it only keeps it going. You should write more about it if it’s something you’re this passionate about.
It happens some times with almost everyone. It always safe to keep the car fit so that it doesn’t give trouble to us in the later part of the day.
tammy powells last blog post..Las Vegas Real estate future demand 500,000 people moving here?
I always try to keep car in better conditions. Even it is a minor repair also I will see that it is doen on time. After reading your article my policy is right I belive. But your story more or less relates to my PC, which was very slow and some local man done something it went to dogs then he told he upgrades to new chip and all finally I exchanged it to new CPU at bit more price with my regualr dealer and now am happy.
These things will happen and thats how we learn things…
Don’t apologize. I had a pet store sell me a rabbit that died about a week later for the same reasons-they shouldn’t have taken him from his mom that young. It is heartbreaking to see the shape some of these animals are in and the stress they go through. I wish I could do more too. I don’t even buy animals from pet stores anymore because I can’t stand paying that much for a pet that isn’t healthy.
I am glad your car is fixed, my needs to be fixed soon, whenever I start it it sounds like one of the belts is squeaking, I am sure it is nothing big, but I don’t know anything about cars.
Well…it’s just one of those situations when something goes wrong with one’s car and then it comes functioning perfectly again after some repairs. It’s a nice feeling really…you get to be more confident with your car.
However, I learned that it is a good habit to outrightly attend to one’s car when something feels not right with it. Drivers can really tell when something is wrong with their cars…even the minute ones. Small defects might lead to much bigger ones…you never know.
Chlorestatim is right, we learn things that way…I did.
Anyways, advice regarding PETS taken.