Monthly Archive

Yes, I have my car back!  Finally.  The cause of it ceasing to run only five miles from the shop the last time I picked it up was, again, the fault of the supplier who sold the shop some faulty parts.  So the shop spent the next few days after that getting it repaired for me and I’ve had it back a day and a half and it’s running great!  In fact, I trust it enough that when I left to run a few quick errands earlier today I forgot my cell phone upstairs in the apartment and when I realized that I didn’t bother going back upstairs to grab it. 

It’s so nice to have my car back!  I just love the freedom that comes from knowing I can pick up my car keys and leave my house to go where ever I wish, when ever I wish. 

Thank you to all of you who have listened to me whine and stress over this nightmare of a car problem.  My stress level has dropped considerably. 

At 5:50 pm I left the shop with my car all fixed, engine replaced.  About 50 ft out of the parking lot the check engine light came on.  Of course I immediately turned back into the shop parking lot and went inside.  The manager  himself brought some probe tester thingy out and after he did his thing said something to the effect that it’s just one of the sensors needing replaced and it’s still driveable (at that point it was running great, smoothly, and sounded great.)  He told me to bring it back in the morning and they’d change it while I waited, not a big repair.  So I went on my merry way and got on the freeway to make a circle to test drive it before I went home and changed clothes to get to work by 7 pm. 

Well… 5 miles from the shop, at the entrance to the hospital where I work, the car died!  And it wouldn’t restart.  It was like the little engine that thought it could and it tried and tried to restart, but just couldn’t.  So there I’m stuck in the entrance to the hospital blocking traffic.  One of our nice security guards came and helped me push it out of the way and I called the shop. 

The manager told me that it was probably the sensor being a bigger problem then he’d expected and in the morning he would get started figuring out which sensor it was, exactly, and get it fixed.  He gave me the phone number to the towing company they use and instructions to have the driver tow it back to the shop.  So I call and make arrangements to do that.  By this time it’s about 6:15 pm and I have no scrubs with me and no name badge and I need to wait for the tow truck driver.  So I run to the nursing supervisor’s office and explain the dilemma.  She very nicely tells me to breathe, relax, get the car towed and get home and change clothes and come back and work the last 8 hours of the shift at 11 pm. 

So the car got towed, I got home, and still have my neighbor’s car to drive.  I’m breathing deeply for a few minutes while I prepare to go to work and focus on being there.  I’m also wondering just what I may have done to deserve this hell I’m living through right now.  I just want this nightmare to be over!   

Just one more post about the car nightmare… This is just too crazy to be believed.

So, the car was towed to the shop two and a half weeks ago.  Six days after it was towed, I called to ask if they’d found a replacement engine yet.  Well, yes, just that day and it should be delivered the next day.  It ended up not being delivered until 2 or 3 days late.  A week after I was told it should be there the next day I was told they were just now taking the old engine out.  They got the old engine out, got the new one in, and it wouldn’t start… no spark.  After hours and hours of diagnostic tests they determined that the computer in the car that sends signals to the sensors on the engine was dead.  So they got a new computer and got it in.  The car started and ran… but… the used engine they’d bought that was supposed to be in great shape blew up!  It began to knock as soon as they started the car up and when they took it for a test drive the engine was smoking and blew up when they got back to the shop from the test drive.  So, they called the company they bought the engine from (it was under warranty, thank goodness) and already have another one delivered.  So now they have to install it and hope all goes smoothly with it.  But with all the delays and problems there have been so far, I’m really not counting on that!  I just can not believe the amount of bad luck I’ve encountered with this situation!

When I first woke up this afternoon and started planning this blog entry it was going to be one full of anger and frustration.  But a knock on my door this evening changed it to a story about the kindness of strangers.

I’ve come up with the money to have a new engine put in my car.  The shop that’s doing the work has had the car for just over 2 weeks now.  Every day since last Friday I’ve thought and been told “This is the day you get your car back.”  And every day it’s been one delay after another.  Yes, I know this is to be expected but it’s frustrating.  What’s making me angry is not only the delays but the shop’s lack of communication in keeping me up to date about the delays.  Every bit of information I’ve gotten from them has come only after I call them… they have not made any effort to call me to keep me informed.  The whole nightmare is just frustrating and I’m stressed over it. 

But a knock on my door this evening really changed my mood.  I have a neighbor across the hall, a very nice woman who moved in about four months ago.  She knocked on my door and did the most wonderfully kind thing!  She knows my car has been broken down because she’s not seen it in my assigned parking spot and had asked me about the rental car I had one day.  So she knocked on my door to tell me she recently bought a new car and will have her old car for another two weeks.  She offered me the use of it until then and gave me the key to it!  This woman barely knows me and had no reason to do this for me.  She is doing it simply to be kind.  I will really really hopefully have my car back any day now so won’t need to borrow hers for long, but having the use of it is just so helpful.  I am so very thankful for her offer!  I told her that, of course.  And I plan to buy her a nice plant arrangement or fruit basket or gift certificate somewhere to thank her for her kindness.  It is just so nice to know there are such kind people in the world!