My car... :(

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I'm devastated because my car is in the shop with something seriously wrong with it-- I don't know if I'm going to get to drive it anymore.

I love my car... like, if it were a person, it's so weird. I am crying right now because my baby is hurt, and it's not about my cousin dying or something I *should* be upset about....

Damn it... I just got this car this year, first car I've owned since I gave up my last one in 2003. I also started a decent job that I really need the car for, I can take the bus to work but it's Maine and it's cold and my hours are odd... I hate the bus and I was really liking being able to just get in my car after work and drive home or stop by the store.

I feel like an idiot being upset about this, honestly. I was on track to "the normal life" and every time something happens to screw it all up. I am probably written up at work or being let go for taking the day off for the funeral of my cousin that I called out for this morning. I can't eat, I can't do my interest, I can't do anything right now but sit here and mope... The dealership hasn't even called me yet to tell me what's wrong with the car and I dropped it off over two hours ago...



I feel so stupid.

First of all - Trust is essential with cars. I never just take it to a dealer and say fix it - the bill will be obscene. I take it to a guy I know who tells me the score.

What car is it? Is it terminal or just a pump or clutch or smth?

Cars break like everything. No need to freak out yet.

Well the place it was usually taken is 50 miles away, sadly I couldn't get it down there. So yeah I opted for the local dealership because I felt there was something really wrong with it, it's a 2002 Honda CR-V, just had it's 105k mile service done and there was this awful howling, screaming metal sound from the rear end.... some shuddering, something in the drivetrain.

I just got the car after not having one for several years (2004-present) so I haven't had a lot of time to find a trustworthy person, I read good reviews at the dealer... I made the best decision I could with so many options and no time to research things better. I'm just really worried... and yeah, I've already freaked out and melted down over it... I'm not very good at being patient or calm when it comes to things like this.

Drivetrain, huh? Sounds serious. I know how you feel because my car just up and died a few months ago. I've been without a vehicle - and a job - for a while. I kinda just mope around here, too. Oh well. Gotta think positive. New year, new hope.

So turns out it was a frozen caliper... yeah. I'm seriously out of my mind with relief!

heres some things you should do.
every time you fill the tank while its filling pop the hood and check the oil
every few weeks take a peek at the transmission fluid.

basically keep an eye on fluid levels, also pay attention to how it sounds when its running normally, if it sounds different have it checked out. if you catch something broken early it tend to be cheaper to fix. for example if you kept driving with a stuck caliper you would have destroyed the brake rotor over a few weeks costing you another 200$.

as long as you do the regular maintenance your car will last you to at least 190k

I decided to learn to work on cars, and then I can evaluate the damage myself, usually try to repair it myself, but if I decide I can't, I know what needs to be done by someone else. It's a very very good self reliance skill to have, the ability to work on cars. You don't need a crazy amount of tools, just a jack and stands, a good ratchet, and a bunch of sockets, and you're MOSTLY good to go.

I just did the timing belt on my 97 Galant, I had help, too.

Also, working on cars makes me friends and acquaintances, either through having other people help me with my cars, or vice versa, and I can even make a little money. Someone will pay me $50 or whatever to put a starter in that a shop would charge a hundred or more for.

Also, JUNKYARDS, they're your friend. Used parts can be really cheap. Said starter job, $35 for a starter at the junkyard, maybe half hour, hour of your own labor, car's back on the road. So it goes from "this is gonna take like half my money for the month" to "this will prevent me from going to McDonalds a couple times."

Sorry for the rather unemotional response, and I got my own car problems, too, but working on cars yourself is one of the best things you can do for yourself. If you need any advice on car work, then feel free to ask me. I mean, sometimes working on your own cars can be a pain, but at least it won't be expensive. It's not "easy" but neither is spending a grand at the shop when the same job at home will cost you like $90.

I'm the same with my cars.

When I had to give Taker up (2001 Hyundai Elantra Hatch) I was devastated. But unfortunately his suspension was completely gone, his radiator kept giving out and he was just old. What made it worse was that he was the first car I had paid for all by myself - about a year before the loan was due too

About the same time I test drove an orange Veloster. I was hoping to get a green one and name it Vettori after my favourite cricketer. I remember that first drive well, it was the same day as one of the pre-season games for my footy team. I stood in front of the Veloster and thought "Hmm" to myself. A few weeks later Taker finally passed on, so I went back and drove the Veloster again. The telling moment was when I refered to her as "my" car. That's how I ended up with Tendulkar (or Tenny as I like to call her). She's not a grumpy old man like Taker was (thank god - Taker hated my "doof doof" music) but she has attitude and likes to make sure everyone knows she's a Veloster.

I don't know how I'm going to go when she passes on. I hate how there's this expectation that you will dump your car for a new one after five years. I can't do it. I love my cars too much to just pass them on like a plate.

I don't know, part of my working on cars is actually me seeing them as like, creatures, if that makes sense. Like an animal. I find junkyards sad, and many times there's cars that are perfectly good that people junk out of ignorance, really. People say "Oh, alternator went." and junk it, and it makes me sad.

I sold my blue Supra to some kid who blew the motor 6 days after, he was supposed to trade me a car, but the deal fell through cuz he blew the motor. So I had no car of my own. I lost my car due to some punk juggalo idiot kid and my stupidity in trusting him. So I lost a car I enjoyed driving and made me happy. I loved the manual transmission, I loved the inline six, when things were bad, I could start it up and go for a short ride through the back roads and feel better, and I can no longer do that.

I feel terrible now.

Supras are nice cars, what year, I have a 84 celica race car( same as the 81-86 supra with a 4 and less wheelbase), if it gets bent past repair i'll just cut the stock frame off and fabrecate. I can't ever scrap it its my baby, same with my truck, I brought that back from the dead and has been a great tow truck.

yes the scrap yard can be depressing however at least I get the chance to get the parts and reuse before they get crushed, its depressing to see cars that I know like my dads old one sat there ofr more then a year. Its also a trip down memory lane of sorts to see the cars like we used to drive and sit in them again, sometimes dream about the cool cars and what I would do with them.

Take cash before selling anything, I learned, I don't know if its an aspie thing only but air tight deals are needed for those who are bad it socal skills and can be taken advantage of, makes life far easier.

Can't trust nobody these days, I once sold a cheap paintball gun ($40) I had loaned to a co-worker, I was 14-15 at the time and he was an adult. He held on to it for a couple months saying he was going to get the money but never did, he never was, I had wrote it off as a loss since my job was worth more then the $40 and I didn't feel like dealing with it, finally my dad got upset and personally collected the money from him and that was little embarssing. All worked out well though. I learned that I was not a good debt collector and later I would understand why, as I could not find the right way to say give me my money now without stepping over the line and seriously putting my job at risk, still can't.

So I changed the way I do my dealings to keep me safe from my own socal short comings. Like a laywer all details are documented, fine print read, papers signed and any and all trades(cash or property) take place at the point of transaction, then you walk one way I go the other and the deal is done and over. Glad I learned that then though.

I find it strangely comforting that you two view cars in the same way that I do. While my current car may not have a name, I'm very attached to it.

Supras are great cars, it's sad reading about some punk blowing its' motor. I had a 91 Honda Prelude (2.1 DOCH 4) and someone drove it into an early grave prior to my ownership (rear main seal leak, piston rings shot).

If only other people would really love their things as we do, and take care of them...