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Car Repair Woes

Ah, the sweet feeling of a freshly repaired car. Isn’t it wonderful to finally fix that thing that’s been wrong with your car…to feel the wheel beneath your hands without the thump-thump-thump and the screech-screech-screech…

My front wheels have been causing problems for a while. When they first started to get yucky, I was given a quote around $800. I decided that I would fix things a little at a time, so I authorized a $250 repair and decided to keep the rest for later. The mechanic assured me that my car would not be a danger any time soon. He said that I could drive it for a month or two before I had to get it fixed.

So finally the time did come when I had to get the car fixed. I was afraid to take it on the highway anymore, and when I did I didn’t go over 55-60 because of the vibration and noise. I know, I know. I should have taken care of it before it got to that point. Well, I didn’t, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it now.

I needed to get the wheel bearings replaced. I took my car to be fixed on Saturday, with the assurance that it would be an easy process.

On Sunday, I received a phone call that the work would be done that day. Whoopee! This was good news, because rarely in my life are things uncomplicated. Especially with cars. If something on my car breaks, it’s usually big. Engine block big. So, while wheel bearings are hideously expensive to replace, I was relieved that it wasn’t a big ordeal.

Later on Sunday, I received the bad news phone call. It turns out that my little foreign car has a quite unique wheel configuration. Instead of just popping off the wheel bearings as expected (because apparently that’s the way it is in normal cars), they had to remove everything, brakes included, to get at it. And, once they got in there, they discovered that my wheel bearings don’t pop off at all. They must, quite unusually, be sawed off with a machine. And, to make things all the better, another mechanic must be called in because this is a fairly rare machine.

Yay.

I was told that I would not have my car back now for several days. Not a problem for Monday, because even on Sunday I knew I was going to be too sick to go in. Tuesday, however, posed a problem. Luckily, my wonderful boyfriend gave me a ride to work. While at work, I was informed that my car could be picked up that evening. I was told that the mechanic had checked out the entire wheel/front end of my car, and everything was in perfect order. He estimated that sans brake pads, which can go often, I should get 75,000-80,000 miles out of the current parts. So, my brother came to pick me up from work that evening to take me to get my car.

It was fantastic. After a couple months of driving a defunct car, my car rode as smoothly as it did four years ago when I bought it new. I was elated. I pulled my little newly perfect car onto the highway and went 70 mph. It was great. No shaking, no vibrating, no noise. Everything was fantastic, until…

Grrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddd. Driving straight forward, I heard a grind. Turning the wheel either direction, I heard a big grind. Using the brakes, it was an awfully huge grind.

“Well, Jen,” I thought to myself, “Perhaps this will go away. This is probably just the sound that the new parts make until they get worn in.”

Delusion is divine, but it does not work. This morning I still have a horrible grinding, like when the brakes go out and it’s just metal on metal. Ick. It hurts my ears. So, tomorrow evening I am off to the mechanic's again with my poor little car.

Sigh.

posted by Jen @ 1/11/2006 07:57:00 AM