GRRRRR #2

 

I’m a little late this week, sorry…..

Back in July I wrote a ‘GRRRR’ story about scammers, now I have another GRRRR story.

So why is it, that just when you get your car loan paid off your car starts to fall apart???  Can anyone explain that???

So, I drive a 2015 Ford Escape, that I really love.  So far it has been a great car for me.  It has a 145,000 miles on it and even at 9 years of age, it has been totally dependable.  However, last week I took it in for an oil change at Bob Summerall AAA Service Center and the technician called me into the service bay (a first for me) and pointed out a problem.  It seems that my radiator is mounted in place at the top of the engine and the bottom has some kind of part that just protects the bottom from rubbing on the frame and possibly developing a hole in the radiator.  The part that is supposed to be there has completely rusted away.   The cost to replace that part is over $1000.00!!!!  What????

I need to give some context.  First, I never have trusted dealerships or chains like Bob Summerall since they always seem to have inflated repair prices.  I go to AAA for my oil change as I buy my tires there and that gives me free tire rotations.  Let me give an example.

A few years ago, AAA told me I had an oil leak in this car, which I thought was strange as there was no evidence of an oil leak on my garage floor.  They explained to me that the leak was coming from the top of my engine??!!  They would have to wash my engine ($200) to figure out where the leak was coming from and then there would be the cost of the repair. 

Well, fortunately I do have a mechanic that I love and trust completely.  He is a 2-person shop that has been wonderful for years.  Took the car to him, he looked at the engine for about 20 seconds and said, “Sue, I don’t know why Ford did this, but your engine mounts are hollow rubber mounts and they are filled with oil.  One of your mounts has sprung a leak.  Will be about $200 to fix.”  And that is just one example. 

I used to be one of those people who would do everything to keep my car going, so one time I replaced a motor, another time I replaced a transmission (both totally needed), but I learned an expensive lesson.  When you get to those kinds of repairs, it is probably smarter to buy a new car. 

However, as I said at the beginning, I just paid off this car in September.  I typically try to go 2 years after a car is paid off before I replace a car.  I spend those 2 years saving the cost of my prior payments so that in addition to my car trade-in, I have a nice cash down payment as well. 

I have an appointment tomorrow with my mechanic to see what he says about that repair. 

Keep your fingers crossed!!!