Dead Car

Our 2002 blue Saturn SL1 is dead. It died quite suddenly and unceremoniously.

The hubby asked me if I wanted to go with him to the bank and, feeling lazy and already well engrossed by Facebook, I said no. So, off he went to deposit a cheque and to buy some milk. A while later the phone rang and it was the hubby. He said he was at Speedy Auto Service and could I pick him up. He told me the car wouldn’t run and it was likely that the engine was toast. Apparently he made it all the way to the bank, but had been hearing a ticking noise in the engine. By then, he also noticed reduced power, so instead of going into the bank, he took the car to Speedy. They phoned today and said the engine was quite wrecked.

It gave us no warning. There were no maintenance lights lit in the dash. It just suddenly started ticking and had low power, and that was it. We live on a unique geological feature known as an escarpment. The upper part of our city is about 280 yards above the lower part. The roadways traversing this escarpment are quite steep. The bank hubby was visiting is in the lower city, while we live in the upper city. The hubby wasn’t sure the car would make it back up the “hill.”

When the Speedy manager gave us a quote on installing a used engine, we decided not to spend the money. It only had 140,000 km/84,000 miles. We’ve driven cars to 360,000 km/216,000 miles and then sold them because they were still in such good shape. But this one has given us problems from Day One. Under warranty, we’ve replaced the universal joint, three tie-rod ends, and two wheel cylinders. After the warranty expired, we’ve replaced the another wheel cylinder and two more tie-rod ends. For years, no one could figure out why in the winter the car wouldn’t kick down off fast idle. We wasted a lot of fuel driving on the highways, not realizing it was in fast-idle. Just a couple of months ago, someone finally replaced a sensor and it stopped doing it. The hubby always said this car was built on a Friday at 5. So, to put another engine into a car that has given us so many other problems seemed like a complete waste of money – money we cannot afford to throw away for the convenience of a second vehicle.

We still have our “little red jellybean,” as some people have taken to calling it. :-) Our 2-1/2-year-old Hyundai Accent has given us absolutely no trouble. We have owned other Saturns and were very satisfied with them. We thought buying new would ensure the car lasted, especially given how well we maintain them. Not the case with this one. We hope our Accent gives us many care-free years.

We’re not really emotional about this change in vehicle situation. I think neither of us really “bonded” with this car because it gave us so many problems. I will admit that I cried when we saw our first Saturn for the last time before the new owner picked it up. And, I will probably cry when Jellybean moves on from our family. I know… dumb. And I surely can’t explain attachment to an inanimate object. It may comfort you to know I cried much harder when the cat died. :-)

So now we get used to having only one car – which will be a bit of a challenge. We will, however, enjoy the lower insurance expense. Every penny in this household is precious. And, one of the Speedy mechanics now has a car he can fix to replace the one that just died on him. He lives quite a distance from work, and they have two small children. And he knows the service record by looking in their computers, and he can work on any problems himself. Better that he can use it than having it towed to the wrecker.

Until next time, enjoy and appreciate those material blessings God has given you…