Cecile, my car, is sick.

[hdsqrl]

My baby-car is sick.  :(  In addition to her no-air issues, she's about 15,000 miles overdue for her 90,000 (and nearly $700) maintenance checkup.  Her heat shield has broken, which makes it sound as if I'm dragging a pie tin beneath my car, and her door locks are all jacked up again.  *sad*

 

I called CarMax, and while they're SUCH nice people, I strongly suspect that they know nothing about fixing cars.  I made an appointment with them, and they can't get Cecile in until August 23rd.  I sat at my desk and thought a bit, then looked up Honda dealers in my area.  I found one about 15 miles from home that's won the "President's Award" twice, so I gave them a call.  The service guy was SO nice, and very explanatory about what may be wrong, and told me what ought to be done (but without that hint of "oh, here's a chick, so I'm gonna sell her the moon" kind of swing that I get from many mechanics), and he can get her in next Tuesday.  A rough guess of my bill (guess done by me, not him) is that I'm looking at over $1500 in repairs.  *cries*

 

But...could I get a new car for that much?  I think not.  After this checkup and repair, she should be good to go for another 100,000 miles, excluding, of course, the regular maintenance that will be needed during that time.  I asked him if it was normal to return to the shop for a/c repair on a yearly basis, and he replied, "Oh no, absolutely NOT."  So....?  *sigh*

 

I feel better about the idea of my car in the Honda dealer's hands, but still leary of the probably higher bill because, well, it's a dealership.  But...if they can fix her up right, it'll be worth it?  I hope?  I'm just so tired of her being sick.

 

:(

Comments

[ladyniniane.livejournal.com]

Having just spent a bit over $900 on my van at the beginning of the summer (and deferring until October another $400-500 worth of additional work that will have to be done before it can pass an inspection in November), I know exactly what you're feeling about now. My criteria has been and continues to be, "What will it cost me on a yearly basis to replace this vehicle, and will I be trading one set of problems for another?"

Since the new vehicle I'd like to have would cost me at least $20K in price and taxes, and any used vehicle I bought would be likely to have similar problems to my existing one (mostly related to becoming an older car - gee, just like people....), it's still cheaper to have this one worked on for now. Add in the added insurance costs (not only newer car, but newer car with teenager in household - gack!), and a new-to-me car isn't worth it at this point.

As long as the body and interior hold out, I'll stick with what I have.

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

Yep, I'm taking the same basic approach. It runs fine, just makes bad noises and is miserably hot.