The car is at it again!

[druthb00]

Every. Single. Month. Or at least it seems like it....since we've moved to FL, something major goes wrong. Harmonic balancer, fuel pump, timing chain and the top end of the engine along with it.... $3,000 or so later, and you'd THINK we'd catch a break for a few months.

Yesterday we went down to St. Pete Beach, I parked the car and went to pay for a permit. Well, this parking lot wants $1.50/hr...and I knew another lot further down the beach was $5 for the day. So I told BF we should go to another lot and he agreed. I put the car into reverse....wait, no...the shifter is moving freely. The car is stuck in park. BF pops the hood and tells me to shift through the gears again. The shifter cable that runs from the shifter to the tranny isn't moving. This is actually GOOD news, because a cable is a lot cheaper than a tranny! LOL. I put roadside on our insurance a few months back, since it was only $7 for 6 months...and knowing this car, we'd get our money's worth. Well, low and behold, we saved about $50 in the first 6 months we had the coverage. BF and I had just cleaned out the car before my parents came into town, to fit their luggage and things and we managed to not even have a screw driver. The tow guy came, popped the linkage and told me to just tell the tow company that he took the car out of park. Now BF can shift gears BY HAND. So if we want to go somewhere, I get in the car, turn it on and hold the break, he gets under the hood and shifts the car into drive. We drive off until we need to either park it again or go in reverse...at which point we repeat step one. It's so ridiculous....LOL

While we were waiting for the tow truck, I called our mechanic and told him we needed a shifter cable. It's a GM only part and he could only get it from the dealer (in a reasonable amount of time anyway) He quoted me $250!!! He'd have it in at 10 AM Monday so BF and I left and told him we'd be back in the morning (at least me anyway.) We stopped at AdvancedAuto and grabbed a set of linkage, hoping that it was just broken plastic pieces instead of the cable. BF proceeded to tear the center console apart, and the linkage was fine. So he traced the cable, and pulled half of it out from under the hood, "I think I found the problem...." and the other half through the center console. We matched the part online on an AC Delco website and ordered it on Ebay last night. $58 later and we'll have a functioning car. Until then, we'll be shifting by hand

I did call the mechanic last night and told him BF just replaced broken linkage at the shifter (a lie, but better than saying...we're going to do this 80% cheaper than you'll do it for) and he said, "Oh, that's wonderful." ....Yeah. Sure. But at least we'll still be on good terms with the mechanic LOL.

Sorry so long, just had to vent a bit...and it's sort of funny.

[druthb00]

Shipped today We might have a fully-functional car by Turkey Day. Miami to Tampa...shouldn't be more than a couple days.

[HappyMama]

Sorry you have had so many problems with the car! Good job researching ,finding the part and fixing it yourself. We have had to learn with our two specialty vehicles or we would be stuck paying way too much.

[druthb00]

It's amazing how much money you can save that way. Btw, your picture...is that homemade biscotti? It looks delish

[HappyMama]

It's amazing how much money you can save that way. Btw, your picture...is that homemade biscotti? It looks delish

Yes, Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I love making all kinds of biscotti this time of yr. Thanks!

Learning to maintain your own cars, making repairs, and buying your parts from reputable dealers will literally save you tons ! As well as giving you a valuable skill.

[frugalfranny]

Car trouble is the pits.......sorry it happened to you......but way to go to save money!!

[druthb00]

The part came in on Wednesday, was installed Wednesday night...and we have a normal car again!!! Although today, it randomly turned itself off after I put it into park at the carwash....wonder what it's next trick will be ......I just can't wait to find out, can you tell? LOL

[Sassyclass]

Now that's being frugal. WTG. I know just how you feel about saving on car parts. Thankfully my DH works for an automotive parts company so anytime we need a part he can get it cheap. Sometimes, like this week, we have to take it to the garage because DH doesn't have a special tool needed to work on the car and then it can run into some money. Hope it behaves for awhile.

Cat

[Debbie-cat]

Glad you were able to fix it yourself. A valuable skill is knowing your car and how to fix minor problems. It can save you a ton of money. Glad to hear you were so smart in how you managed it. Hopefully you will be problem free for a long time.