There are many ways of breaking a heart. Stories were full of hearts broken by love,
but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream - whatever that dream might be.
Pearl S. Buck

Thursday, May 17

My Car


I have a great little Nissan Altima. I love that car. It brought me to CA! They run great! Problem: I still have TX plates after being here a year. So I take it in for a smog check. No worries, right? Wrong.

The guy calls me, says, Your knock sensor is out. It sits at the back of the engine. In order to get to it, i have to lift the engine. The book says 6 hours!!!! (labor! YIKES!) Then, an engine mount is broken. Part of the engine is sitting on the frame. YIKES! Then he says, crank angle sensor? (WTF?) that is gone too! Sighs. oh, and the fuel line is damaged and the car is leaking fuel. I wondered about that!

Total estimate: 1100!!!

I dont have that kind of money! I mean I don't even have enough money right now to pay bills! what the heck am I going to do.

*wanders off to find a suitable place to tear the very last hair out of her head. oh and a wig shop that is giving away an old wig.*
unrehearsed by at

10 comments:

  1. rebeccaMay 17, 2007 5:27 PM

    awww, man. that bites the big one. sheesh.

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  2. laurenMay 17, 2007 5:45 PM

    phew...that was horrible! I know how you feel.
    Last time i brought my car to a mechanic, they replaced the nissan knock sensor and some other parts that cost me $$$ and headache.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mississippi SongbirdMay 17, 2007 8:29 PM

    Is it running?


    I went thru that with my saturn..or something like that,and it was the catalytic converter .
    My husband went in there and cleaned it out..
    The Saturn place wanted to charge me $2000...
    If possible and if it's drivable, you might want to get a second opinion.
    Good Luck.. and I hope you get it fixed without alot of headache.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 18, 2007 3:17 AM

    I think I'd be getting a second opinion...good luck Melanie!

    ReplyDelete
  5. BarnGoddessMay 18, 2007 3:44 PM

    well, this really sucks.

    Im about to open a bottle of red wine....nothing fancy but you sound like YOU need a drink.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KatMay 18, 2007 7:43 PM

    Sounds like you have about as much luck with cars as I do. Put 2 out 3 I've owned to rest before the loans were up. I will say a little prayer for you.

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  7. winterMay 19, 2007 9:03 AM

    Yikes!

    Sorry to hear that, Melanie.

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  8. Verdant EarlMay 19, 2007 10:12 AM

    Cars suck!

    We'd all be better off biking our asses around town.

    I think Mother Earth would agree.

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  9. ldbugMay 21, 2007 9:43 AM

    Register your car in TX for one more year...I did that when I lived in TN since I couldn't afford to fix my car and there wasn't an inspection in MT (where my parents live). So, I kinda lived on the edge and had the car fixed over the year that it was still registered out of state...

    Y'know, it's always the little guy paying.

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  10. Mermaid MelanieMay 21, 2007 2:34 PM

    Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I got a second opinion, and I think I am going to have another person fix it (for about 500 cheaper), so I can get on with creating a life here.

    I wish I could keep my Texas plates. I am going to miss them.

    ReplyDelete

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