Car Repair Woes; Again

I've had my dream car--truck actually--for just about eight years now. It was found as a surprise; a red 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport, parked in the driveway of a friend's house where we were to have dinner. It was November, 2000. A world away from this one, only marred by the ongoing mystery of just who was going to be President, Al Gore or George W. Bush. It's hard to even put yourself there now, isn't it?

I'd always wanted a Jeep. What's more, I'd always wanted a red one, and here it was, being sold for a friend, by a friend. At the time, I was only recently beginning the long climb out of a debt hole. Buying it was a real challenge, and I was fortunate to have The Other Half to help me out, since my old car was at death's door. The old 1989 Mazda 626 was barely hanging in there, and had become a money pit. A two-year-old, barely driven Jeep was the answer.

But that was eight years ago. I still love my Jeep like a member of the family. It is long paid off, and I am long out of debt. It gets abysmal mileage, but I only drive it about 4,000 miles a year. At nearly 11 years old, it only has 46,000 miles on it, and still looks great. Even with newer, remodeled Jeeps running around everywhere, it's still my dream vehicle.

But now, like clockwork, every year when I get a new smog check before registration, I am beset with costly repairs. For four out of the last five years (at best recollection), I've been treated to expensive new problems, when all I want is a $25 smog screening. This year, it was the water pump and an oil leak, total price: $557. Less than a week later, with oil puddles in the garage, I went back to find another $600 to fix a leak caused by patching the earlier leak. Not to mention a combined seven hours waiting around for repairs.

I realize that $1,157 amounts to only three or four car payments. And the $50 registration ain't too bad compared to $400-600 for a new car. Still, I'm now wondering, when does this sort of perpetual repair work become more trouble than it's worth? Would a new car, with payments every month but no problems, be an even trade? Especially if it got better than 15 mpg.? Not sure. But I have a deal with the other half that in 2010, I deserve a vehicle made in this century!

Stop Thief! Editor Victim of Vehicle Theft

It wasn't the whole truck, nothing like that. Living in Las Vegas, I've become aware of the sad fact that our city is #1 for vehicle thefts. My co-worker had hers stolen from her apartment complex last month. My friend, known here as Stupid Monkey Planet, said his co-worker's truck was stolen recently as well.

As I've written here, I've been hit with some car repair hits lately. I didn't even write about the $1,500 I had to pay just a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, the disappearance of my Jeep after outlaying a total of $2,300 or so total, would be a major bummer.

All of this led to a discussion at lunch today about my Jeep. I mentioned that, even though you could take a Jeep apart with a socket set and steal it piece by piece, I've only ever had my gas cap stolen. Even when I've had the top off (which is every summer), the Jeep has remained unmolested.

How strange then that today, after buying my 22 lb. turkey at Smith's, I came out and found that my gas cap had once again been stolen! And this was the locking one I bought to replace the original! So it was off to AutoZone to lay out $15 (not so bad) for a new locking cap. This one spins when locked, so will be almost impossible to steal. Still, I'll be thankful if the Jeep owner who stole my gas cap gets his truck taken apart with a socket set. And I hope they just leave him the cap.

Car Maintenance Blues

The joys of owning an older vehicle that is paid of are many: no car payment, low registration fee, lower insurance rate, and a car or truck that is like part of the family and comfy as an old shoe. The downside of course includes maintenance and repair costs, and the fact that your vehicle looks about as good as your old shoes.

In my case, the age of my truck isn't a particular problem. I have a Jeep Wrangler, and they age well. Even old Jeeps look pretty cool. But the maintenance wave has worn me out this month.

A couple of weeks ago, my brakes started squeaking. I recognized the sound, and knew it was replacement time, but not too urgent. I have an eight mile drive to work, eight miles back, and don't venture too far from home for much. Still, I wanted to address the issue soon. Last Saturday, I sought out--let's call them Only Brakes--a repair shop I'd heard about on the radio. For only $99 they'll replace your shoes, and machine your drums and discs if necessary. Cool!

To avoid making this post too long to read, I'll just give you the bullet points:

• Only Brakes' Internet address was wrong, causing a hunt for the place that took 45 minutes.


• Only Brakes was so full-up, I'd have to leave my truck overnight. No dice.


• I decided to go next door--we'll call it Spiffy Lube--to get the oil change. Only $21.95. Cool!


• Spiffy Lube pulls up Chrysler's recommended maintenance at 40,000 miles, so the cost will be more like $120.00. OK, whatever, just do it.


• Spiffy Lube says my oil cap is stripped. They can't get it off.


• I go next door to a nameless garage, and they remove my cap, free of charge. Cool.


• Back to Spiffy Lube, got the oil changed, and it only came to $111. I can live with that.


• Today, since we're having a work lunch at Rio, I decide to drop the Jeep off at the Only Brakes nearby. I'm assured that it'll only take an hour or so. And the price is $99! It's 11:45 am.


• Returning from lunch at 1:30 pm, I'm excited to see that the Jeep is up on jacks, and being inspected. I sit down for a very long wait.


• At 2:15, I'm called out to look at my Jeep. I hate this part. Bad drums, bad calipers, broken spring. It's going to cost $500. Holy schnikies! It will take "a couple of hours."


• After roaming the neighborhood (Las Vegas' China Town), getting a soda and reading material, I head back. I arrive back at 2:45 pm.


• I read all of my reading material, drink my soda, and visit the latrine several times (lots of iced tea at lunch). At about 4:45 pm, I notice that no progress is being made. My truck still has no brakes whatsoever. I investigate.


• "It'll only be a little while," they say. From here on out, every other time I look there is alternately someone working on the Jeep, or nobody anywhere in sight. Around 5:30, I see that they are finally putting the wheels back on.


• Excited at the development, I figure I'll be leaving any minute. Nope, after two wheels, the guy disappears again. It is 6:00 pm by the time they button up the hood, and take it out to test the brakes.


• I pay for the work, and leave at 6:15 pm--a full 6 and a half hours after coming in. I'm exhausted from doing nothing all those hours. No TV, no reading material supplied. I could tell you what every poster on the wall says, and draw you a schematic of a brake system, I'll tell you that.

Moral of the story: If you have an old vehicle, you have to expect days like today. And if you go to a place called (something like) Only Brakes, and the first question is "what do you need?" you might consider going somewhere else. What do I need? Dude! All you do is brakes!