Car refused to start, was stranded for 6 hours! (edited)
God I had the most fucked up day yesterday. Almost half my day was wasted... gone! All thanks to a fucked up car.
I was having an intermittent problem with my car running which would be fixed by replacing a simple part. So I go to the parts store and buy the part, which was $50.
I try starting my car. It refused to crank or start at all, so it had to be the battery or starter system. The parts store told me they could test my battery if I took it out of my car. So I pulled it out, and then they had to charge it in order to test it, and that took 45 minutes. The battery was fine.
When I went to put the battery back in the car, the positive wire clamp was so badly corroded, I had to replace that! So I bought a new clamp, cut and stripped the wires, and screwed the new terminal clamp on. Car still wouldn't start.
The employees said they could test the starter, but only if I got it off the car. I spent an hour struggling to get the starter off before I gave up and decided to call my insurance to get a tow truck to tow my car.
2:45 - I call the insurance, they give me an estimate of 45 minutes.
3:30 - they called and said it would take 90 minutes for the tow truck to get there.
4:30 - I called the tow truck company themselves, bitched at them, and got bitched at back because they said they were busy. True, it was lightly snowing and the roads were a bit slushy, but it's not my fault Americans are fucking stupid, and can't drive in the snow, and crash all the time.
5:00 - I called my insurance, got an estimate of 30 minutes for my car, decided that if the tow truck didn't get there in that 30 min that I would call another company and pay for it out of pocket, then demand reimbursement from my insurance.
5:30p - Tow truck finally arrives. Tow truck driver hooks my starter directly to my battery and is able to start the car. The starter was not the problem.
I sat there for 3 FUCKING hours waiting for a tow truck, and that's the longest I've EVER waited for one.
I finally took it to my automotive repair class that evening, the teacher and the assistant quickly went to work and found the fault in my ignition key switch... it was broken. So they gave me a way to hotwire my car until I could get the ignition key switch fixed.
TL;DR - I waited 6 Fucking hours in the snow with soaking wet shoes because my car broke down and refused to start and the tow truck driver took nearly 3 hours to get there. I had to spend that 3 hours wondering if I'd have to spend $300 of money I didn't have to replace a starter. And then to add insult to injury, the tow truck driver was able to star the car without towing it! I waited 3 hours for him to start my car!
6 fucking hours of being fucking stranded with a broken car!
I fucking hate life.
I was having an intermittent problem with my car running which would be fixed by replacing a simple part. So I go to the parts store and buy the part, which was $50.
I try starting my car. It refused to crank or start at all, so it had to be the battery or starter system. The parts store told me they could test my battery if I took it out of my car. So I pulled it out, and then they had to charge it in order to test it, and that took 45 minutes. The battery was fine.
When I went to put the battery back in the car, the positive wire clamp was so badly corroded, I had to replace that! So I bought a new clamp, cut and stripped the wires, and screwed the new terminal clamp on. Car still wouldn't start.
The employees said they could test the starter, but only if I got it off the car. I spent an hour struggling to get the starter off before I gave up and decided to call my insurance to get a tow truck to tow my car.
2:45 - I call the insurance, they give me an estimate of 45 minutes.
3:30 - they called and said it would take 90 minutes for the tow truck to get there.
4:30 - I called the tow truck company themselves, bitched at them, and got bitched at back because they said they were busy. True, it was lightly snowing and the roads were a bit slushy, but it's not my fault Americans are fucking stupid, and can't drive in the snow, and crash all the time.
5:00 - I called my insurance, got an estimate of 30 minutes for my car, decided that if the tow truck didn't get there in that 30 min that I would call another company and pay for it out of pocket, then demand reimbursement from my insurance.
5:30p - Tow truck finally arrives. Tow truck driver hooks my starter directly to my battery and is able to start the car. The starter was not the problem.
I sat there for 3 FUCKING hours waiting for a tow truck, and that's the longest I've EVER waited for one.
I finally took it to my automotive repair class that evening, the teacher and the assistant quickly went to work and found the fault in my ignition key switch... it was broken. So they gave me a way to hotwire my car until I could get the ignition key switch fixed.
TL;DR - I waited 6 Fucking hours in the snow with soaking wet shoes because my car broke down and refused to start and the tow truck driver took nearly 3 hours to get there. I had to spend that 3 hours wondering if I'd have to spend $300 of money I didn't have to replace a starter. And then to add insult to injury, the tow truck driver was able to star the car without towing it! I waited 3 hours for him to start my car!
6 fucking hours of being fucking stranded with a broken car!
I fucking hate life.