To add to my luck with life, as of a week ago I no longer have a car to drive. No accidents, no poor maintenance or neglect to my car caused what turned out to be an expensive fix. I am not writing to complain about the struggles of not having a car, although I will discuss the inconveniences that came with.
So good the ol 99 Chrysler Concorde is no longer with me. It turns out the build of the engine in my car uses a timing chain, rather than a belt. The reason for this, from my researching, was to allow for those who own such a vehicle (it also occurred in a few other models) to worry less about maintenance. Take not that having a belt requires it to be replaced in a given period of time, and Chrysler (as well as Dodge) decided most people would be too neglectful to perform such maintenance. Anyway, the chain is not supposed to break making it better for such neglectful owners to keep their car.
Well no one is perfect, and from what I have seen the Chrysler engine is not that great. In fact, it is a common issue for this timing chain to break. Often the break occurs in cold weather, which is clearly inevitable seeing as I reside in the Midwest. Well my battery had died due to my transmission being faulty to begin with. I had issues with the key not turning all the way off, as well as the fact that I could remove it while my car is running. Moving on, I found a parking services truck to help jump my car. It didn't work. I heard a weird noise the first time I turned the key, almost as though it was about to turn over but I prematurely let go. I then retried repetitively and it was just not going. Even if my battery wasn't dead, it wasn't going to start. Unfortunately I did not know that and I went out and purchased a new battery. I soon found out my car has a difficult placement of its battery. I could not do it myself...
So a few hours later I had AAA come over to tow my car somewhere that would be able to replace my battery. The tow truck driver also tried to jump my car, he said that my car should be able to jump and I might have more problems than I thought. I eventually got it towed to a nearby garage. Unfortunately because of the time of day it was already closed (most were already). The next day I went into the garage and asked for them to perform a diagnostics check to make sure as well as put the battery in. I then waited.
On Wednesday I received a call from the garage. It turns out the previously noted timing chain was a potentially broken. The mechanic at the garage had spoken to his friend at the Chrysler dealer. This is where I found out that the problem was common to my particular engine. It later motivated me to find more about the problem. The repairs for the car were estimated to be about $5000. As soon as I heard that I knew it was over. With such money spent on essentially overhauling the engine, one could simply purchase a used car that would not be at risk of such critical failure once again.
With phone calls, emails, and text messages to my parents. We are trying to figure out what to do about this situation. Clearly we are now done with the Concorde, so I have removed every little piece of property from the car as one step. It is unclear whether I will sell the car to a salvage yard or donate it to charity. The charity one would yield a tax write-off for the KBB value of the car regardless of working condition. One solution that has been discussed and may be most likely is for my dad to drive out here and give me his 99 Audi A4. This would be a reasonable replacement with the exception that it is quite compact so its storage capacity is limited (which would make moving difficult). Other options include using a special discount my mother has through her company to possibly buy a new car. My family is very tight on money so I would not think this would happen.
Now here comes the question, do I really need a car right now?
The answer is, YES. It may seem that I am acting spoiled, but bear with me. You see my job, I have not worked at it once this semester. Having income is important for me to purchase groceries and other necessities that I use daily. Now, the first week I was attempting to gather myself and understand my schedule. I was planning on getting back into it this past week. Unfortunately without my car I am unable to take myself into work. This makes me unable to earn money. I also have certain needs for a car to pick up groceries as well (if I was making money). Aside from that I have been needing to bum rides from friends and even borrowing the twins' van.
Well as things get sorted out and my professor hopefully responds to my email regarding my lack of car, I shall write an update to what happens and what solutions come about. So for now, wish me luck.
So good the ol 99 Chrysler Concorde is no longer with me. It turns out the build of the engine in my car uses a timing chain, rather than a belt. The reason for this, from my researching, was to allow for those who own such a vehicle (it also occurred in a few other models) to worry less about maintenance. Take not that having a belt requires it to be replaced in a given period of time, and Chrysler (as well as Dodge) decided most people would be too neglectful to perform such maintenance. Anyway, the chain is not supposed to break making it better for such neglectful owners to keep their car.
Well no one is perfect, and from what I have seen the Chrysler engine is not that great. In fact, it is a common issue for this timing chain to break. Often the break occurs in cold weather, which is clearly inevitable seeing as I reside in the Midwest. Well my battery had died due to my transmission being faulty to begin with. I had issues with the key not turning all the way off, as well as the fact that I could remove it while my car is running. Moving on, I found a parking services truck to help jump my car. It didn't work. I heard a weird noise the first time I turned the key, almost as though it was about to turn over but I prematurely let go. I then retried repetitively and it was just not going. Even if my battery wasn't dead, it wasn't going to start. Unfortunately I did not know that and I went out and purchased a new battery. I soon found out my car has a difficult placement of its battery. I could not do it myself...
So a few hours later I had AAA come over to tow my car somewhere that would be able to replace my battery. The tow truck driver also tried to jump my car, he said that my car should be able to jump and I might have more problems than I thought. I eventually got it towed to a nearby garage. Unfortunately because of the time of day it was already closed (most were already). The next day I went into the garage and asked for them to perform a diagnostics check to make sure as well as put the battery in. I then waited.
On Wednesday I received a call from the garage. It turns out the previously noted timing chain was a potentially broken. The mechanic at the garage had spoken to his friend at the Chrysler dealer. This is where I found out that the problem was common to my particular engine. It later motivated me to find more about the problem. The repairs for the car were estimated to be about $5000. As soon as I heard that I knew it was over. With such money spent on essentially overhauling the engine, one could simply purchase a used car that would not be at risk of such critical failure once again.
With phone calls, emails, and text messages to my parents. We are trying to figure out what to do about this situation. Clearly we are now done with the Concorde, so I have removed every little piece of property from the car as one step. It is unclear whether I will sell the car to a salvage yard or donate it to charity. The charity one would yield a tax write-off for the KBB value of the car regardless of working condition. One solution that has been discussed and may be most likely is for my dad to drive out here and give me his 99 Audi A4. This would be a reasonable replacement with the exception that it is quite compact so its storage capacity is limited (which would make moving difficult). Other options include using a special discount my mother has through her company to possibly buy a new car. My family is very tight on money so I would not think this would happen.
Now here comes the question, do I really need a car right now?
The answer is, YES. It may seem that I am acting spoiled, but bear with me. You see my job, I have not worked at it once this semester. Having income is important for me to purchase groceries and other necessities that I use daily. Now, the first week I was attempting to gather myself and understand my schedule. I was planning on getting back into it this past week. Unfortunately without my car I am unable to take myself into work. This makes me unable to earn money. I also have certain needs for a car to pick up groceries as well (if I was making money). Aside from that I have been needing to bum rides from friends and even borrowing the twins' van.
Well as things get sorted out and my professor hopefully responds to my email regarding my lack of car, I shall write an update to what happens and what solutions come about. So for now, wish me luck.
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