Merlin's magic muffler wand
I've known that I needed exhaust work done on my car for about a month now. I was pretty fatigued from putting lots of dollars into it in a short period of time that I just needed to give it a few weeks, i.e., let's get into the next credit card cycle. Toyota told me there were holes in my exhaust system and my oxygen sensor needed replacing; it was just a matter of finding the time. I was thinking, hmm, maybe the last weekend in April would be good...
And then the issue got pushed to this weekend. I sort of wonder if last weekend's warm temperatures, followed by the drastic cold snap on Monday, exacerbated things. All I know is that by Tuesday, things were sounding a bit noisy, and by Wednesday things were obviously Not Good. I could feel the car vibrating directly below my feet, and giving the car gas made things worse. Once I got up to speed it wasn't so bad, so when I got to coast mode it was fine, but if I slowed down or braked and had to speed up again, it would be sluggish and the vibrating would be bad again. Oddly enough, my check engine light turned off. I figured it died or the oxygen sensor disconnected or something.
Dad and I went to Merlin after shopping; my appointment was at 11 and we got there a little early. It was weird because I'd made the appointment online and called to confirm it yesterday, but then they were like, so, this is for *dad's car*? No, the Camry. And you're here for an oil change? No, for the exhaust system. They were clearly busy at the moment and said they'd call when the did the diagnostics on it, and at that time I got told that the muffler had come off and the cage that held it had come off, as something had rusted through, and that wasn't something they could weld back in place; they'd have to replace both. He sounded super apologetic when he gave me the pricing but considering it's a fraction of what I've already put into the car--like, add a zero and I've already spent that this year--I was more concerned with, can you get it done today? And the answer was yes. Please, take my money and just do it.
The guy made it sound like it would be done around 3 PM, when they close on Saturdays, and I might have to hang around for a few minutes while they finished it up. No problem. Imagine my surprise when he called back around 2 PM. Sweet; we'll be right over. So I get there, and dad says he'll wait until he sees me come out. The guy talks to me about it and I go, what about the oxygen sensor. He got this look on his face like, oh crap, I don't know that it was replaced. The check engine light not being on, it wasn't something they looked for. The guy ended up helping out someone else who just needed to be rung up, and then he grabbed my keys and started driving it back and forth a little in the parking lot. At this point I'd been in there for a few minutes, and my car happened to be right next to the door--they were so busy they'd run out of regular parking spots--so dad saw the guy getting into my car. The light never turned on, so when the guy came back in, he asked me to keep an eye on it, and if it comes back on to try to get back there as quickly as I could, within a day. My schedule is such that I don't know how feasible that would be, but dad, who'd come inside by then, said he had a code reader and would be able to see what it said. There were two guys talking to us at that point and they were saying there are several different oxygen sensors and chances are by replacing the muffler, that would have taken care of the main issue. I wouldn't doubt it, but we'll see what happens. Bonus: While dad was talking to them, they got on the topic of gas, and the one guy mentioned how, for a few weeks there, people were coming in with specific issues and it just so happened they'd all gotten gas at the same place. I won't name names, as he actually wasn't suppose to, oops, but if the gas is the cheapest in the area, there's a reason for that. It is in fact cheap gas. BP and Shell are the way to go. Dad does in fact get his gas at this location, and when the worker said he called the station to go, you need to check your gas tanks, shortly afterward they were being dug up. I do recall the station having work done earlier in the year so at least now we know why that was.
I was just glad to get this taken care of finally, and earlier in the day than expected. Also, now that the service road goes through south of Menards, dad and I were able to come home without taking a main street in that area. That was kind of fun. We waited over 30 years to have that connection. We also discovered there's a new little coffee shop next to Merlin that we'd never noticed before, since it's kind of hidden back there. And, when I texted Laura to let her know my car repairs should be complete, she let me know she was actually in the area--in her brand-new car. I knew this was a possibility for her but hadn't known it was happening today. She did a drive-by so we could ooh and aah at it. It's also a color I've admired while driving around so I'm a little jealous, heh. But it was really nice to see her and it's nice to know that her own car issues are also resolved. Who knew today would be the day for all that.
And then the issue got pushed to this weekend. I sort of wonder if last weekend's warm temperatures, followed by the drastic cold snap on Monday, exacerbated things. All I know is that by Tuesday, things were sounding a bit noisy, and by Wednesday things were obviously Not Good. I could feel the car vibrating directly below my feet, and giving the car gas made things worse. Once I got up to speed it wasn't so bad, so when I got to coast mode it was fine, but if I slowed down or braked and had to speed up again, it would be sluggish and the vibrating would be bad again. Oddly enough, my check engine light turned off. I figured it died or the oxygen sensor disconnected or something.
Dad and I went to Merlin after shopping; my appointment was at 11 and we got there a little early. It was weird because I'd made the appointment online and called to confirm it yesterday, but then they were like, so, this is for *dad's car*? No, the Camry. And you're here for an oil change? No, for the exhaust system. They were clearly busy at the moment and said they'd call when the did the diagnostics on it, and at that time I got told that the muffler had come off and the cage that held it had come off, as something had rusted through, and that wasn't something they could weld back in place; they'd have to replace both. He sounded super apologetic when he gave me the pricing but considering it's a fraction of what I've already put into the car--like, add a zero and I've already spent that this year--I was more concerned with, can you get it done today? And the answer was yes. Please, take my money and just do it.
The guy made it sound like it would be done around 3 PM, when they close on Saturdays, and I might have to hang around for a few minutes while they finished it up. No problem. Imagine my surprise when he called back around 2 PM. Sweet; we'll be right over. So I get there, and dad says he'll wait until he sees me come out. The guy talks to me about it and I go, what about the oxygen sensor. He got this look on his face like, oh crap, I don't know that it was replaced. The check engine light not being on, it wasn't something they looked for. The guy ended up helping out someone else who just needed to be rung up, and then he grabbed my keys and started driving it back and forth a little in the parking lot. At this point I'd been in there for a few minutes, and my car happened to be right next to the door--they were so busy they'd run out of regular parking spots--so dad saw the guy getting into my car. The light never turned on, so when the guy came back in, he asked me to keep an eye on it, and if it comes back on to try to get back there as quickly as I could, within a day. My schedule is such that I don't know how feasible that would be, but dad, who'd come inside by then, said he had a code reader and would be able to see what it said. There were two guys talking to us at that point and they were saying there are several different oxygen sensors and chances are by replacing the muffler, that would have taken care of the main issue. I wouldn't doubt it, but we'll see what happens. Bonus: While dad was talking to them, they got on the topic of gas, and the one guy mentioned how, for a few weeks there, people were coming in with specific issues and it just so happened they'd all gotten gas at the same place. I won't name names, as he actually wasn't suppose to, oops, but if the gas is the cheapest in the area, there's a reason for that. It is in fact cheap gas. BP and Shell are the way to go. Dad does in fact get his gas at this location, and when the worker said he called the station to go, you need to check your gas tanks, shortly afterward they were being dug up. I do recall the station having work done earlier in the year so at least now we know why that was.
I was just glad to get this taken care of finally, and earlier in the day than expected. Also, now that the service road goes through south of Menards, dad and I were able to come home without taking a main street in that area. That was kind of fun. We waited over 30 years to have that connection. We also discovered there's a new little coffee shop next to Merlin that we'd never noticed before, since it's kind of hidden back there. And, when I texted Laura to let her know my car repairs should be complete, she let me know she was actually in the area--in her brand-new car. I knew this was a possibility for her but hadn't known it was happening today. She did a drive-by so we could ooh and aah at it. It's also a color I've admired while driving around so I'm a little jealous, heh. But it was really nice to see her and it's nice to know that her own car issues are also resolved. Who knew today would be the day for all that.