On Tuesday, I took my car in to have it looked at, because the engine was knocking at high rpms. For a little background, my car is a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (the 4-door, not the little one) and has only 35k miles on it. I have the driving habits of an 80-year-old woman.
At about 10am on Tuesday, I got a call from the dealership and they told me that what I had was a "dead knock," that the engine was mere moments away from "throwing a rod" and that the vehicle needed a complete engine replacement.
What was even better....it was 3 months out of the warranty that covered the engine and drive train and it was going to cost me $6300.00 to replace the engine.
After I returned to consciousness, I told the folks in the shop to not do anything at all with it, but put me on the phone with whoever they liked in sales. They passed me to a salesman and I told him "I have a vehicle in your shop that is going to cost $6300.00 to replace the engine, but I know as well as you do that you guys can do that in house for less than 1/3 of that cost. If you give me what I owe on the vehicle, I will buy a car from you tonight."
3 hours later, I was signing paperwork on a new car, a Jeep Compass. It's a big change going from a giant SUV to what is essentially a glorified station wagon, but with the price of gas skyrocketing going from a big 6-cylinder to a tiny 4 has its advantages.
I have spent the week dealing with getting the old car cleaned out (it was a disaster, I wasn't exactly planning on never picking it up when I dropped it off for repair), the sale, taxes, license plates, and all the rest of the stuff involved in buying a new car.
I am incredibly relieved that the dealership was willing to take the old car off my hands, and while the new car is not necessarily what I would have chosen, it does have an advantage on the old car in that it has an engine...that is functional. Plus, they gave me satellite radio, that has provided me no end of amusement. Today I spent the drive to the fabric store for the sale on Burda patterns listening to a station entirely devoted to rap of the 80's.
The funniest thing that was said to me in the entire episode...one of my coworkers proclaimed "Well, if my car's engine died at 35,000 miles, I can't imagine buying another car from the same dealership!" (imagine very preachy tone here). My response was "Yeah, it's not like I was driving it to the Ford dealership down the street...you know, with the whole lacking an engine thing."
I have been working on a few things though. I did finish the "wrap front pant" from the last post and all I have to say is....
BWWWWHHHHAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA
OMG, they are truly horrible.
As soon as I have a moment, I will take a photo or 20, so you can laugh with me....or at me, whatever the case may be.
I also have continued my weekend sewing with friends, and the friend with the vintage dress that I completed the bodice for? Everything is done. She promises me photos next weekend. The dress turned out great.
And finally, I am done with all but the lining on a spring trench coat, made with a black and white rayon twill with red and white lining:
The style reminds me a bit of this Tory Burch trench-style dress ($395):
Although patterned trenches seem to be pretty big right now, here's an example from Alice + Olivia ($495):
Moschino, $1495:
Tibi, $600:
Hopefully next post I'll have some photos for you, in the meantime I hope everyone has a fantastic week and....check your oil, get a tune-up!
10 comments:
Sorry about your old car, but you did great getting another one. I promise I won't laugh at you, looking forward to seeing your pants.
The fabrics for your trench are so pretty... I will stay tuned.
My 2004 Jeep Wrangler's engine died at 30,000 miles! I didn't drive it much so it was out of warranty in time. Luckily we have a great friend who is a mecanic and he worked on it mostly for cost. Jeeps used to have great engines...
Love the trench! I'm not sewing much now at the moment either. Today is redo sewing room day!
Bummer! I've never owned and seldom driven a Jeep (except for borrowing my mom's old Grand Cherokee), but I'd been eyeing the Compass for a while because it's so stinkin' cute.
I'm dying to see the pants, and I totally promise not to laugh at you....just with you. :-)
Gee, I HATE dealing with car issues, but I would have done the same thing you did. Can't wait to see the pants!
Brilliant idea with the car. The trench looks like it will be lovely.
I applaud your quick decisiveness. From my memories of auto ownership, it is a major source of stress and expense. Hope the new ride treats you well and look forward to some photographic entertainment soon!
I think all of the brands have some horror stories like yours now. I may be in the old school but I think a 2007 with 30K miles is not an "old" car. When I was car shopping recently I for once was in no hurry and read reviews for days. Stories like yours were the kiss of death for various ones. Thanks for sharing the wrangler stories. Car manufacturers need to clean up their act on these vehicles. I would go online and see if there is lots more of the same with this model to see if there is a lemon involved. mssewcrazy
Wow, so appropriate. My car decided to stop working en route to campus this morning. I think it's tired of the snow and just didn't want to deal with it anymore. My car is 12 years old and has 152,000+ miles, though, so maybe it's time to let her go. I really want to eke out that last 48k! After 3 hours at the shop, they still haven't pulled it in to see what's wrong.
You are one savvy lady, what with the finagling of a car sale. Not sure I woulda had the nerve.
Feeling vindicated to hear of the flappy pants. I didn't want to say that the Burda pic looked like a meat curtain . . . but it did.
You and I have similar body types so it was an easy leap to say nay.
This is a greatt blog
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