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Never say, "I bet my car won't need any repairs."

I swear that whenever I think my car will need new brakes or something else, it almost always ends up being fine as is. Just this past fall, the Saturn was fighting me almost every time I tried to turn the key in the ignition. I was fulling expecting to pay a lot of money to replace my lock cylinder, but my great mechanic tried graphite, and my key has failed to turn only one time in the past four months. Sure, the Vue is living on borrowed time, but I am happy to put that off as long as I can.

Yesterday, I said to the hubby as well as to my mom that I really cannot think of what repairs my car would need during today's inspection. I am very hard on my brakes, but since I had those replaced less than two years ago, I figured I was fine. And after my tire debacle about a year ago, I was quite sure my just-under-one-year-old tires were going to be good at least until the end of this year (even though, of course, they are warranted for 80,000 miles). So what was left? Yes, there are many other components to a car, but not to clueless me. But my car has only about 63,000 miles on it, so I liked to assume nothing major should go wrong for a little while.

But you know what happens when you assume.

My mechanic called me up about 30 minutes ago to inform me that my exhaust something or other was cracked. He said it was odd as it usually deteriorates, rather than cracks, and it did not appear that a rock or something caused this. In any event, this is going to cost me something like $150 on top of the inspection and emissions.

Moral of the story: Never say, "I bet my car won't need any repairs." And I am not just saying that because that sentence was probably Pittsburghese and I am most likely missing "to have" after "need." :-)

Not to worry: I am still pretty sure I can find something for my "Good Things" box. I might just count the lockout being over for a second day. That is pretty awesome. Just ask my snowman.


Comments

Andre Brennan said…
A person who'll be able to say that would be living in a fantasy. Cars always need repair and maintenance, whether we're using them or not. However, not using a car will only make things worse. If not started regularly, the car battery will drain out and the oil will stuck up, which will lead to damaging some of the car parts dearly.
Enoch Ross said…
No matter how often you wash your car or how careful a driver you are, sooner or later, it’s going to need repairs or maintenance at the very least. Parts can claim warranty for a period of time, but that still depends on how well-maintained a car is for it to hold true.
Rita said…
Murphy’s Law -- never fails.

That brake situation might be worth looking into. As you yourself said, you’ve been hard on it. Two years might seem a short time to have it replaced, but it may be a good idea to have it checked on the next maintenance work.

Rita McCall
Evans Tire & Services

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