Monday, September 29, 2008

I had a hot date with AAA!

Meant to blog yesterday but the day got away from me. Have plenty of time now, since my car has decided she needs some time in the spa. The only reason I have not broken down and cried is because they have not called with the estimate yet. I may sound crazy for saying this, but this has been the least hassling instance of car trouble I have had. I have been pretty lucky when it comes to car issues. This morning, I got into my car, started it up, and it started chugging, like it was not getting enough gas. I stepped on the gas, hoping it was just because it was parked on an incline, but the chugging did not go away. I turned it off, and tried to turn it on again, and that was not happening. (This has happened a few times before - I turn the key and nothing happened. I replaced the battery hoping that was the problem, but....I guess not.) So, I called my best friend AAA. They were out within the hour and hooked up the cables. Turned the key, nada. After jiggling with it a few seconds, it started. The AAA guy deduced it was the starter. I said, great, but it is still chugging. He said it was probably because I was parked on an incline, just let it set for about 10 minutes and it should be fine. I was wary, so I asked him who he recommended to have the starter fixed, and he told me about a local guy whose garage was on the same street as the church where the hubs and I got hitched.

I drive there (less that 5 minutes) and the chugging never went away. In fact, as I pulled in, the check engine light came on. I need a new coil, apparently all the rain we got over the weekend caused the coil to go. I don't really understand it, but I'm not a mechanic, now, am I? After I get the new coil, he will check the starter (which I am resigned to needing - it's original on a car with 182,000 miles) and I should be back on the road tomorrow.

EDIT: Just got the estimate: $433, yikes!

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