"If Life is a Highway…Then I Want Off"

June 25, 2012

Almost nothing is more annoying to me than car troubles. My poor car has been through the ringer, and it’s frustrated me to no end. Two years ago, we replaced all four tires, shocks, and struts for the outrageous price of over $1000. Imagine my surprise when a few months later I found myself with flat tires (I’m not talking one flat tire, I mean all four in less than a year). After having the tires checked out, we determined that they hadn’t been sealed properly. Our mechanic took care of it and we moved on. 

Until last week…

Last week, I had another flat tire (a nail in the road will do that). I sat on the side of the highway and fumed about my bad luck. Why did I seem to have all the trouble with my car? We had it towed to our mechanic and asked him to check out some other problems we had been having concerning the engine and thermostat. After a $300 fix, we thought we were good to go. 

Until I woke up to come to work the next day…

Yes, another flat tire. The patch repair had apparently not held. I held in tears while I told my husband to call the tow truck again. We were able to put on the donut and drive to the nearest Wal-Mart, where I paid another $125 for a brand new tire. 

So imagine my surprise when I started to drive the car around the city a few days later and it starts to overheat. Apparently, my $300 fix was no fix at all. We’re back at square one with what may be wrong with the thermostat. At this point, I am beyond frustrated. I don’t blame the mechanics; they are doing the best they can to find the problem and charging us a standard rate to get it fixed. I think my car just decided it had had enough. And at this point, so have I. 

All of these problems have led me to search the Internet, attempting to solve a problem that I have no experience in dealing with. However, I know that there are lots of sites that will help diagnose car problems and show those DIYers how to do the repairs. MCPL has some great references within its Research Databases, especially ChiltonLibrary.com. It offers repair solutions, recall information, and maintenance schedules for every year, make, and model of car.  While I’m not brave enough to attempt a fix for myself, it is useful to have somewhere to go to get reliable information.

So as we begin our next trip to the repair shop, I can only hope that this round will offer a solution to what seems to be a never-ending problem (for both my car issues and my barely controlled frustration). I assume that once it’s fixed, I’ll look back on it as a learning experience and, perhaps, laugh. But I doubt it.

Jamie C.
Platte City Branch