(no subject)
It's been a day or three since I've seen thee, LJ.
My car broke down again today. Since I've been here...just in this new apartment (we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary as residents of Roswell Avenue), I've had my car towed twice and had it completely unresponsive in the parking lot of a Pep Boys. I was trying to replace the battery. No no...it's the alternator that needs doin'.
The first time I had it towed, a couple of months after the alternator, it was the starter. And getting that sucker down from the 6th floor of the parking garage at a mall...I don't even want to begin to remember. At least it was winter. Or as "winter" as it gets here. I think I wore a sweatshirt the day I had to walk the mile between work and the mechanic and I broke a sweat.
That was a few months back, obviously. And the past couple of months it's been making a high-pitched whine while I'm accelerating. Initially I figured it was the transmission, but people kind of shrugged when they were in my car. "Oh, I didn't even hear it," as I turn down the a/c and lower the radio. More than once it was suggested that a belt might be slightly out of place.
Today I found out it was the flexplate. A hard-to-reach part of the automatic transmission that isn't very expensive as far as parts go. But the labor on the goddamned thing...that's a different story altogether.
I've had this car for 12 years. It's seen me through a few boyfriends and taken me to all four points of the compass in the US. Do I just fork over the almost-$800 for the third time in a year? Or do I start shopping?
Looks like both, at the moment.
My car broke down again today. Since I've been here...just in this new apartment (we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary as residents of Roswell Avenue), I've had my car towed twice and had it completely unresponsive in the parking lot of a Pep Boys. I was trying to replace the battery. No no...it's the alternator that needs doin'.
The first time I had it towed, a couple of months after the alternator, it was the starter. And getting that sucker down from the 6th floor of the parking garage at a mall...I don't even want to begin to remember. At least it was winter. Or as "winter" as it gets here. I think I wore a sweatshirt the day I had to walk the mile between work and the mechanic and I broke a sweat.
That was a few months back, obviously. And the past couple of months it's been making a high-pitched whine while I'm accelerating. Initially I figured it was the transmission, but people kind of shrugged when they were in my car. "Oh, I didn't even hear it," as I turn down the a/c and lower the radio. More than once it was suggested that a belt might be slightly out of place.
Today I found out it was the flexplate. A hard-to-reach part of the automatic transmission that isn't very expensive as far as parts go. But the labor on the goddamned thing...that's a different story altogether.
I've had this car for 12 years. It's seen me through a few boyfriends and taken me to all four points of the compass in the US. Do I just fork over the almost-$800 for the third time in a year? Or do I start shopping?
Looks like both, at the moment.