$1200+ in car repairs and get sideswpied

[meegbear]

A couple weeks back, I got my fed tax rebate (yeah!) and brought my car (1998 Chevy GEO Metro) to my friendly local garage - it needed to be realigned and tires needed a rotation. They did it, $115, and said my radiator was empty and I should get it looked at. There were also some small things that weren't earth-shattering, but should be done soon. "OK", a couple weeks I figured get the radiator done.

Monday, I leave for the gym, get about a mile from home and start to smell oil burning. I look at the dials and the temp's in the red. I pull over, call AAA and get myself towed to the garage. I tell them what happened and I had their writeup from the previous visit in the car, so said do them as well. They call me a bit later and say that the problem is not the radiator, but the water pump. The timing belt should be replaced too and there's a hose which has to be special ordered, so it'll be a couple days, you can still drive without it. Fine. Do the work and order the part, I'll pay for it now. $820.

Thursday, the garage calls and says the part is in and they can install it now. $50. Now all week, I'm hearing some rattling from the back. After work, I see the back of my car and my muffler's hanging. I'm thinking, with all the work they did, they didn't see/hear that? I decided to goto another garage, one Mom goes to, the next day.

Friday, I get to the garage and say my muffler's hanging. They look at it and say "It's not hanging, it's falling off". So they order the new muffler and install it. $250.

Saturday, after that week, I needed to breathe a bit. I ran my errands and mid-afternoon, I went to a bar in the city for a couple of quick ones, parking out in front. A little while, we hear a car alarm go off. A couple of us walk out and it's my car. A guy driving a van was driving and a car, driving the other way, swerved towards the center of the road. The driver went to the right and scraped the driver's side bumper and tore off the light covering. We changed papers, I filed with his insurance company this past Monday and waiting for their assessment. The cover and the bumper need to be replaced; the scrape I can live with, but the cover coming off damaged the bumper.

I go on vacation in another week and I dread what awaits me and that damn car between now and then.

[Breeze54]

1. Damn! You are having bad luck with that car!

Maybe it's time to get another one? It sounds like my son's car. His muffler is falling off too.
I hope you have better luck in the future and you don't have to spend the whole return check on
car repairs. What a bummer!

[meegbear]

2. I'm in debt considation for another year ...

fuck thank you Congress for passing that awesome bankruptcy bill.

Just need it to work 'til about May of next year, then buying a new one.

[meegbear]

3. Kick

I WANT SYMPATHY, DAMMIT! x(

[flvegan]

4. Okay, that right there is a run of bad luck.

You should be all caught up for the next few years, I think. Damn.

[snooper2]

5. Your car is totaled...insurance will tell you...

And unfortunately you dumped more money in to the car than it is worth...$1235, you should give the receipts to the insurance company and try to get all that money back after they tell you the car is totaled..

a 1998 Metro ...time to upgrade :)

1997 Geo Metro $1,295


http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=240691934&dealer_id=45836265&car_year=1997&marketZipError=false&awsp=false&num_records=25&search_type=both&make=GEO&keywordsfyc=&distance=0&model=GEOMETRO&transmission=&address=75074&make2=&certified=&advanced=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&max_price=&sort_type=priceASC&min_price=&body_code=0&end_year=2002&color=&keywordsrep=&systime=&start_year=1997&keywords_display=&drive=&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&engine=&style_flag=1&doors=&fuel=&cardist=1092

[haele]

10. SAVE THE RECEIPTS -

Our old, beloved Mercury Villager was totaled two weeks after we dumped around $1500 in axle repairs, new tires, new brakes, and a couple other things (as at that time, the apartment lot we were parking at was a dried mud-hole with lots of hard gullies and pot-holes). We had the receipts in the car, so not only did we get the value of the poor green beast, but we got the additional $1500 and the police towing fees added to what we were eligible to get back.
To the OP - if the vehicle was not totaled, but the repairs that were made have been compromised (say, a replaced wheel bearing is cracked) the entire repair, including the labor, will be added to the repair.

But as the poster above me indicates, you're probably totaled (just to repair the damage) Make sure you check with your insurance co. - they should add the repairs to the cost of the vehicle if you're within the usual 90 day warranty of the repair.
Good luck.

Haele

[NMDemDist2]

6. i had a horrible car karma weekend too

got the driver door scraped and then the tranny blew two days later, 250 miles from home on Sunday

$2000 for a tranny rebuild because the ass I had do the maintenance put the wrong filter in it and $300 hotel/food costs for the three days it took to get back on the road

I feel your pain :hug:

[BreweryYardRat]

7. Ugh, I feel your pain. I've had $3000 in repairs on my Volvo since August.

And on Tuesday, something went wrong with the transmission. It won't go into 4th gear, and it's getting fluid everywhere. I'm going for an estimate in 30 minutes or so -- if it's any more than $200, fuck it. I'll use that money towards a new vehicle and see what I can get for the old one.

I should have just gone ahead and put a down payment on something else rather than inheriting my mother's POS.

[meegbear]

8. Ouch!

I drop at least a grand a year, I swear, since Ive had it. I want a new one BAD.

[BreweryYardRat]

9. Yeah. I'm leaving for my estimate now. Wish me luck.

If my old man donates it to the Salvation Army, he might be able to write the cost of repairs off as a tax deduction - which might yield more money on the whole than selling it to some poor fool, or even selling it for scrap.

Thing guzzles gas like you wouldn't believe, too.

[PeaceNikki]

11. I feel your pain

My transmission blew in December - 700 miles past my warranty.

They wanted about $3k to fix a car that was worth about $1500 in tip-top shape. This was 7 moths after we dumped $1300 in misc repairs on it, expecting it to last at least a few more years. :(

I ended up buying a new car instead. I need a warranty and reliability.

By the way, there are alternatives to AAA that you should consider. Please read this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7202333

AAA dues fuel pollution and sprawl

Drivers clutching this card as a talisman against automotive calamity should know that, in doing so, they lend support to an agenda-in favor of road building, against pollution control and even auto-safety measures-that helps deepen the automotive calamity afflicting the nation as a whole.

Here are some of the things AAA has lobbied for and/or still does:

• 1990 - AAA lobbied against the Clean Air Act
  
  
• 1998 - AAA lobbied against a 7 cent gas tax for land preservation. We all like to get from point A to B, but only if neither is totally paved over when we get there.
  
  
• Present - AAA still lobbies for ever wider roads, seen as a major cause of congestion rather than a relief of it by many organizations.
  
  
• Present - AAA is on the record against virtually every proposal for cutting automobile pollution.
  
  
• 1989 - AAA called vapor traps on gas tanks a safety hazard.
  
  
• 1994 - AAA opposed a move by smogbound eastern states to promote low-polluting cars.
  
  
• 1997 - AAA opposed new smog limitations.
  
  
• AAA opposed the airbag law, not sure what year.
  
  

http://www.newdream.org/newsletter/breakdown.php
AAA uses membership dollars to lobby against federal environmental and auto safety laws, as well as public transportation initiatives. If AAA had its way, that bus you need to flag down might never come.

• In 1990, AAA fought against strengthening the Clean Air Act. They claim to represent members even though three quarters of Americans supported the measure and the vast majority of club members have little awareness of and virtually no say in AAA's lobbying agenda. The news about AAA's political arm even surprised the nation's most well-known dispensers of auto advice, Tom and Ray Magliozzi - better known as "Click and Clack" of National
• Public Radio's hugely popular Car Talk. Said Click (or maybe Clack): "We had no idea that part of our AAA dues were being spent on lobbyists who oppose just about everything having to do with public transportation. If
• AAA thinks that it's a good idea for every single person to get to work in 3000 pounds of iron, we sure don't want to help support such a silly idea."
  

More info here:
http://www.sierraclub.org/e-files/roadside_assistance.asp
http://misanthropicscott.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/aaa-is-pure-evil/

Here's an alternative - PLEASE share others:
http://www.betterworldclub.com /