What was supposed to be a quickish trip to drop off my nephew and see some bloggity friends became a trip fraught with difficulty and awfulness due to a broken down car. I had to drive 30 miles an hour on the freeway and even though I had my hazard lights on I was screamed at, sworn at, flipped off and had a 44 oz. soda cup thrown at my window. It was also 105-degrees and I couldn’t turn on the air conditioner AND my glasses broke.
Wow, has this whole thing suckasuckaSUCKED.
The good news is that I had people that were around to help me out. Fun, lovely people that make me laugh and also helped forget I was pretty much stranded and stuck in a flaming bag of poo on the porch of a situation. Maddie, Jon Deal and Sarah graciously let me tag along with them around Salt Lake and Sarah put me up for the night and I managed to find a mechanic that specializes in VW’s. Plus, I have accommodations until my car is fixed.
The bad news? It will cost me NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS to fix the timing belt and O2 sensor on my car. Nine HUNDRED dollars. Right after moving. Right before BlogHer.
Ouch.
I would write more (OH, would I write more) but my internet access is fairly limited and will be so until I get home sometime on Wednesday night.
Pardon the loud, booming sound. That was my brain exploding.
Stumble it!
Filed under: 
Your brain exploding? That would explain the mysterious matter that appeared on my monitor.
Or, it could have been part of my wallet, because THAT exploded all to hell, too!!! ;)
Car troubles suckasuckaSUCK.
My head might just explode on your behalf :)
Angellas last blog post..Murphy’s Law, Revisited
Oh NO! I’m so sorry! How frustrating and frightening.
Jennifers last blog post..Everything is better in the light of day
Ugh, I hate having to put hundreds of dollars into cars. I once had to replace a $650 fuel pump when I broke down in Chicago on a cross-country road trip following college. We were on a very tight budget, and it put us a day behind. But somehow you manage to make do when the shit hits the fan.
I’m still mad at Chicago about it, though.
Sras last blog post..Rational Self-Interest
I hate unexpectedly spending money on my car. Hate. Particularly tires which, though obviously necessary, are painfully not cute.
I’m sorry.
Melanie at BeanPastes last blog post..It’s Actually Suprisingly Easy Bein’ Green
Let me join in – AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHhhhhhhhhhhh
JoeInVegass last blog post..Stuff
My greatest sympathies.
Fluent Brittishs last blog post..The Line
You’re getting hosed. As an expert on auto parts, having been in the field for almost two months now, the O2 sensor should be about 80 bucks, the same with the timing belt. So, he’s essentially charging you 700 dollars for a job that can be done in about an hour. That’s quite a rate he’s getting.
This may sound crass, but may I suggest something? You paid good money for those things (you know what I’m talking about. THOSE things.). You should borrow a cute outfit from Sarah, and go and “talk” him down a little. And by talk, I of course mean flash him your lady bits. That should knock a good $300 off of the bill.
Glad I could help!
Adams last blog post..Another minion is on the way!
Unfortunately, I called every VW mechanic in my area and they are all about the same cost. They are marking up the parts but the price also has to do with the size of my engine. (I’m not sure why, but every mechanic asked me about it because it effects costs.)
Besides, I know that it is mainly labor that costs the most. Which blows, but it’s a huge job and since it’s a German car I don’t have a crapload of options (which blows all kinds of chunks.)
So?
Screwed, indeed.
P.S.
I highly doubt putting on a short enough skirt to show my lady bits would help. You haven’t seen my cankles.
P.P.S.
Besides, I doubt they would be interested. This place was like the mechanical version of the film, ‘Deliverence’.
P.P.P.S.
I think I hear dueling banjos. Hold me.
poor dear. nothing stresses me out more than car trouble!
I don’t care what the car looks like as long as it is not yellow, all I want is a DEPENDABLE mode of transportation (oh, and cold AC as I reside in hell).
heathers last blog post..Summer Reading
I’ve been told, by mechanics, several mechanics, at car check up appointments,
“Oh, sure, yeah, you want to make sure that you replace that timing belt. If you’re timing belt breaks it’s gonna be EXPENSIVE. You don’t want that timing belt to go cause it’s gonna cost you a lot of money. Yep. Broken timing belt = loads of cashola. Make sure you have a good timing belt cause it’ll cost you the big $$$$$ to replace a broken one.”
Several mechanics. Same speil. Timing belts. Bah humbug!!!!!! I am sorry for you, my dear. Sigh. xo
Someone threw a CUP at your car? What is wrong with people these days?
We can drink water in our hotel rooms at BlogHer together. I’m fresh out of money myself. And I haven’t bought a single pair of new shoes.
She Likes Purples last blog post..Searching
This is exactly why I don’t own a car.
Dougs last blog post..The weekend, and other stuff. No, just the weekend.
Cars bite…
Elizabeths last blog post..Love LIFE
Not THOSE lady bits. The OTHER lady bits. The ones you paid for! I would never think of suggesting to a woman that she go flashing her jay-jay all up and down the state of Utah. Even I have morals…
Sort of.
Adams last blog post..Another minion is on the way!
That does suck. BIG time.
O2 sensors are so frickin’ high to repair and timing belts aren’t that cheap either. I’m sighing for you.
Queen of Shake Shakes last blog post..I’m Just a Twitterho
Yuck. Very yuck.
Wait. Wait until the kids grow up and you wind up putting that kind of money into their car. Regularly.
lceels last blog post..Oh blogger, where is thy sting
Crap! I’m so sorry about your car trouble…though I’m not sorry we got to hang out! :-)
Pantss last blog post..Sad
i am looking forward to having a car when we get back to the states…i am not looking forward to having car trouble. of course when we do have car trouble at least the people will speak some form of english. trouble in english is way better than trouble in a language that i suck at!
natalies last blog post..Where are all the troglodytes?
Car problems seriously suck! And I’ve learned that my lovely VW is EXPENSIVE to fix. I need the breaks changed and all the quotes I’m getting are over $300. ouch!
Just Mes last blog post..First for me
I’ve got one for you: In April my friend, L, and I went to visit HSF in the Bay area. My car was JUST FINE before we left – really it was! So we dawdled along for a couple of days, stopping every couple of hours to pee, etc., which was probably a good thing. Anyway, when we pulled into HSF’s underground garage, she was waiting there for us. Her look of joy at seeing us turned quickly to a look of puzzlement. She said, “What is that awful sound?” We, of course, hadn’t heard an awful sound because we had the air conditioner going, the radio blaring, and we were laughing a lot. The next day NYDD took the car to a mechanic for me. YIKES! TWO BALD TIRES (one with steel showing through and a big bulge in the side!) AND A BAD AIR COMPRESSOR! Or something like that. SO…$1800 dollars later we were on our way again. Damn! And I mean that sincerely!
I owned a passat once….once!
$900 is nothing, with mine I went through key selenoids, water pumps, and alternators.
All for that fracryfromgruven experience i thought i should have. Since then, I’ve sworn off VW’s (well anything post ‘92) because of quality issues – i still belong to vwvortex where i can laugh at people who are still buying them for some perceived betterness, like mac fanbois)
But I feel for you…this is why i have a japanese car in the driveway that’s getting 37 mpg @ 90mph with the a/c on which i commute daily ~100 miles in…
$900 bucks seems extremely high for a timing belt and O2 senson, but then again my passat cost me ~$700 for a new catalytic converter, though i bought a 3rd party one for a whole lot less…
and what ever happened to my passat, well the vr6 motor has a timing chain that decided to break and take out the top end with it, that would have cost me around $2500 bucks and it wasn’t worth that much, so i gave it to the mechanic who towed it and he gave me $300 bucks…lol I considered it a deal!