Sorry for the delay in writing this post, I have been very tired, both from work and from my recent car dramas. So here's what has happened since I last wrote about my car....
Thursday I called Paul at Western Auto Electric to ask if my car would be ready for pick-up Friday at lunch time as I had arranged with Tom to drive me out there in exchange for a lunch date. Paul told me to call back Friday at 10am because he was still waiting on the locksmith to look at my door lock. I called him Friday at 10 and he confirmed that he could have the car done for me by lunch time. I confirmed with Tom to drive me and all was just dandy, until.....
I got a call from Paul about 11 telling me that they had finished up my car and were running some electrical tests on my car and found that my alternator wasn't working. This was NOT what I wanted to hear - not that I knew what it meant, but another thing I had to pay for? No way! I asked him what this meant - apparently my battery wasn't charging when my car was running so eventually my car battery would run out and I wouldn't be able to start my car anymore - and how much it would cost - between $550 and $750. I do not have this extra money and I was not in the mood to deal with it. I called my parents, I was very upset and crying, this was just too much extra stress on top of an already stressful situation. They helped me realized that I need the car no matter what, so the alternator needed to get fixed, but I should get another opinion on it. Seems so convenient that I haven't had any problems until this point with my car starting and now my alternator isn't working? A bit fishy... I called my mechanic friend that my NZ family knows, Magan (who originally referred me to Western Auto Electric), and he told me that he doesn't fix alternators but he would be happy to look at my car next week for a second opinion. I told him it seemed really convenient, this whole situation, and he said it's possible it was blown when they were trying to hot wire the car and blew the alternator out. After all these conversations I decided I was going to go get my car, talk to Paul about it, and then probably take me car with me drive it until it died (at least then AA would tow it for a breakdown) and get a second opinion and then get it fixed. So, Tom picked me up and we headed out to get the car. \
When we got to Western Auto Electric I spoke to Paul but I wasn't too convinced about anything he was saying. He wasn't the best salesman on needing a new alternator - he didn't make me feel very convinced. I paid for my ignition and door lock ($837) and took my car. I asked him if not fixing it would damage my car and he said no. He told me with diesel vehicles once they're started they will keep running, unlike a petrol car which can die while you're driving. I figured that'd be fine then. I'll just keep driving it until it doesn't run anymore. He told me my battery warning light wasn't working (which now that I think back, I think it did work before and I'm starting to wonder about this....) which is why I might not have known about the alternator problem before. Anyways, I paid for the car and took it with me and left. (I'm thinking I probably got ripped off on the other work but I have decided not to look into it because there's nothing I can do now and it will only make me upset if I were to confirm that I overpaid or he did unnecessary work to my car. They did fix my interior light and clock though which I'm happy about. Neither were working when I purchased the car.)
Anyways, Tom and I went for lunch after at a place called Ko's Dumplings and were quite impressed. I might have to say this is one of our favorite places for dumplings now. I'm sure we'll be going back at some point.
On my way back from lunch/picking up my car, I stopped in at Repco (an auto-parts store) to pick up a steering wheel lock, to hopefully discourage people from trying to steal my baby again. The guy who helped me, Chris, was very nice. He gave me a deal on the lock and referred me to a friend of his. Craig, who works at a shop near my house and could look at my car and give me a second opinion. I couldn't go yesterday (Friday) but he told me Craig works Saturday and he'd give him a heads up that I was coming in.
So, today is Saturday so I went in with my car this morning to see Craig and see what he thought about the alternator. When I go there they told me Craig wasn't working but another gentelman, Paul (not the same Paul as before), offered to check it out. He ran some tests and told me he wasn't seeing anything wrong with the alternator. We did chat about the battery a bit (side note: when I bought the car I had an inspection done and as part of this they told me that my battery wasn't in good condition. Eventually I would need to replace it and it would cost me about $200. I told this all to Paul). In the end he told me my alternator seemed to be working. He said I did need a new alternator belt (he showed me that it was cracking) and it would be about $40 for the part and $40 for the labor. I told him I need a service for the vehicle and we've arranged it all to happen on Tuesday - service with oil change and filter change as well as a new alternator belt. Apparently with diesel vehicles it is very important to keep them well services as not doing so can cause lots of damage and be quite expensive. I haven't serviced it since I bought it so it's about time.
Anyways, in the end I'm happy to report that I won't have to replace the alternator. I think I will be able to manage the expenses over the next 6 weeks or so without needing to dip into my savings and I think all will work out just fine. Case in point, this last week I worked 55 hours again. That'll net me $812 after taxes. After paying rent and putting a bit away for savings I can make a good dent in my car expenses.
That's all for tonight. Best!
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