Oh, good, things just keep getting better!
So... I don't think I bitched about it on here, but less than a month ago I had to replace the clutch in my car - for the third time since buying it - because it's poorly matched to the engine/transmission, and is a "known problem" on the Vibe GT model.
(And probably because I drive hard, too - but it's not JUST my driving, because I have owned standard vehicles for 16 of my 24 years of driving - most of them with many more kms than the Vibe - and have never had to replace a clutch before.)
Anyways, the SAME evening that I drive away with my $2000 clutch replacement, I'm on the Don Valley Parkway with a few friends in the car, and hit something (felt like a large brick) with a rear tire - rip a giant hole in it. So I put on the spare, and drive to the dealer the next morning. The service dude comments that the tire was really low on tread - so I take a look, and all 4 tires are at about 2-2.5mm of tread, below the recommended minimum of 3mm for safe driving. So, I bite the bullet and get new rubber all around, including an alignment that it needed anyway: another $1000.
Thankfully I had finally finished paying for the car in April - so I had a little extra cash laying around to be able to cover those non-trivial expenses.
Well, this morning the car had a great deal of trouble starting - to the point that I was concerned it might not turn over. But it did, and I drove to work. I had noted it had been having a little more trouble than usual over the past couple of days, and when it did the same thing at noon, I took it straight to the dealership to have it checked out.
I just got the verdict - it needs a new starter. Almost $700 for the cheap knock-off - over $1k for the genuine GM part. I went for the AC Delco part - probably still top out at over a grand once the labour and tax and other shit is baked in.
Fuck. Right. Off.
Can't win for fucking losing.
Any bets that I go home, check my winter tires in the basement, and discover that they are also low on tread, meaning I'll be dishing out another grand before the snow flies?
Just this morning I was thinking that I should transit to work for a week, and see just how shitty it is - maybe it'd be worth the money saved by ditching the car.
Well, I think it's time. Fuck this noise. I need to start saving some coin anyways, because if I don't get the fuck away from so-called "city life" soon, it's only going to be a matter of time before I appear as a headline together with the words "goes postal" as part of an almost-clever-yet-still-thoroughly-tasteless pun on the front page of The Sun.
B.
(And probably because I drive hard, too - but it's not JUST my driving, because I have owned standard vehicles for 16 of my 24 years of driving - most of them with many more kms than the Vibe - and have never had to replace a clutch before.)
Anyways, the SAME evening that I drive away with my $2000 clutch replacement, I'm on the Don Valley Parkway with a few friends in the car, and hit something (felt like a large brick) with a rear tire - rip a giant hole in it. So I put on the spare, and drive to the dealer the next morning. The service dude comments that the tire was really low on tread - so I take a look, and all 4 tires are at about 2-2.5mm of tread, below the recommended minimum of 3mm for safe driving. So, I bite the bullet and get new rubber all around, including an alignment that it needed anyway: another $1000.
Thankfully I had finally finished paying for the car in April - so I had a little extra cash laying around to be able to cover those non-trivial expenses.
Well, this morning the car had a great deal of trouble starting - to the point that I was concerned it might not turn over. But it did, and I drove to work. I had noted it had been having a little more trouble than usual over the past couple of days, and when it did the same thing at noon, I took it straight to the dealership to have it checked out.
I just got the verdict - it needs a new starter. Almost $700 for the cheap knock-off - over $1k for the genuine GM part. I went for the AC Delco part - probably still top out at over a grand once the labour and tax and other shit is baked in.
Fuck. Right. Off.
Can't win for fucking losing.
Any bets that I go home, check my winter tires in the basement, and discover that they are also low on tread, meaning I'll be dishing out another grand before the snow flies?
Just this morning I was thinking that I should transit to work for a week, and see just how shitty it is - maybe it'd be worth the money saved by ditching the car.
Well, I think it's time. Fuck this noise. I need to start saving some coin anyways, because if I don't get the fuck away from so-called "city life" soon, it's only going to be a matter of time before I appear as a headline together with the words "goes postal" as part of an almost-clever-yet-still-thoroughly-tasteless pun on the front page of The Sun.
B.