TheFranciscos.Net

Car Trouble

So my car (a 1998 Dodge Intrepid) broke down yesterday – I’ve been having a hard start in the morning for the past few days, but I’ve still been able to get it to start after a few tries. Then finally, my car just gave up on me. I called up AAA (thank God for those guys), got it jump-started, and then proceeded to the nearest Dodge dealer (Norwin Dodge). Turns out I needed to get my starter replaced and in addition to that, my “brake booster” has gone bad. I dunno what the world a “brake booster” is, but I do know it costs $400.

What bothers me with this repair is that I just got that goddamn starter replaced last November because of the same exact problem! My car was under an extended warranty and the starter should have been covered from the start, but the dealer I took it to (Cherry Hill Dodge) sure took their time to find out what exactly the problem was. After leaving my car with them for 2 days, they said they didn’t find anything wrong with it. Then the next day after I took it home, it was hard-starting again. I took it in the shop for a second time, this time for a few days (keep in mind that I’m paying for a rental car every time I drop my car off to have these idiots check it), and kept on calling to see if they found anything wrong with it. Each time they said that “it’s fine, no problems we can see”. I decided to drop in for a surprise visit and show them exactly what the problem was, and voila, the car was hard-starting. They replaced the starter in a couple of hours. Needless to say, the service I received from that stupid dealer was the absolute worst.

Anyway, my car has really been abused since I got it anyway – my first consulting job in the States was at Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, which was around 40 miles a day from where I live. After that, my next client was Comcast Business Communications (CBC), which was pretty good since I got to use the train going into downtown Philly. Then after about a year of work there, CBC decided to move to Moorestown, NJ which was about 60 miles away from home. So I did that commute for six months. Now, since moving to Pittsburgh, I work at WJU in Wheeling, WV which is about 60 miles away. Needless to say, something in this car was going to give sooner or later.

It’s now almost at 75,000 miles and I’ve used it to go to a LOT of places. I still plan to keep it though, even if it’s starting to have some problems. I still enjoy driving it, I still like the way it looks, and the last, but most important reason, I don’t have the funds to buy a new one (especially with a mortgage to think about soon).

Yeah, I’ll keep it and It’s going to be my “commuter car”. Then the next car I buy will be my leisure car. Besides, even if I decide to trade it in, It’s value probably won’t be enough to cover downpayment for a new one. The whole experience with my Intrepid taught me a couple of things though –

1. DO NOT buy an American car (for a number of different reasons – they break easier, their value decreases as soon as you step on the gas pedal, and the feel of the car is cheap)

2. Forget about buying an extended warranty – the car’s always going to break AFTER the warranty expires

3. DO NOT buy an American car

4. Make sure to find a mechanic that you can trust and who’s not trying to rip you off

5. DO NOT buy an American car