My Car Passed…Life on Hold Part III – Part II :)
So we’ll start this post with all the updates that were added on to the previous post. But if you read those already, you can click here to skip to the new stuff.
Update 1 (7/13): I borrowed a car yesterday and first I checked my storage unit and found nothing. I got excited when I found a warranty until I looked closer and saw it was for my previous car. Then I was given access to the shop where the motorhome is actually being worked on! I looked all through it and didn’t find the car paperwork. 🙁 Today I had the car towed to my mechanic near where I used to live and I feel confident that they’ll find out what the problem is and actually be able to fix it instead of sending me somewhere else for that. Things are looking up! More updates to follow.
Update 1.1 (un-dated): I finally found the warranty and other car related paperwork! Woohoo!
Update 1.2 (un-dated): The car needs an engine 
Update 2 (8/3): It’s been a good news-bad news-iffy news-who knows news-we’ll see news kinda day.
First, the garage called and said I was supposed to have had my car towed to the dealer where I bought it according to the warranty. I told him the dealer was gone and he said I need to call the warranty people. Thinking I probably blew it by having it towed to the wrong place, I called them and they were much nicer than the warranty makes them seem, and they said to have the garage call in and make a claim. They (actually, she) said I can use any shop I want.
Then the RV shop called and said my motorhome was ready except for the inspection sticker I had requested they get. Do I still want them to do that? Yes.
On my way to do some errands (in a car I borrowed), they called again and said the registration they have is expired. They need the current registration to get the sticker. Since I was going by the shop where my car is, I figured I’d rule out the possibility of the renewed reg being in the car and then I’d search at home when I get there. Ruled it out.
While I was at the garage, the mechanic said he heard back from the warranty people and they said they need my maintenance records. I told him there was just the one oil change that he did. Problem is, the contract requires me to get an oil change every 4000 miles and unfortunately I went a bit over that (in a surprisingly short time), so now I’m hoping they don’t deny coverage on my new engine based on that. I feel like they probably will.
Update 2.1 (8/4): They didn’t deny it. See update 3 below.
I searched for the motorhome registration when I got home but couldn’t find it. I figured it must be in the motorhome but after doing some detective work, I realized I renewed the reg after the MH was brought to the shop so it’s very unlikely to be there. I checked the RMV online and confirmed that I definitely had renewed and the reg is active. So I ordered a new copy and sent a pdf of it to the shop. It was after closing time by then so I’m sure I’ll hear from them tomorrow.
It’s going on six weeks since the car broke down. More waiting. But at least it’s nice that the RV is finally done. They’ve had it for almost nine months.
Update 3 (8/5): The warranty is covering the engine, but the coverage is capped at $3000. This engine, new with 3 year/100,000 mile (I think) parts and labor warranty, will be $7600-ish installed. So it’s still gonna cost me. Even though the car is older, it’s in decent shape (other than the engine), so I hope I made the right decision to get a new engine instead of a used one that could already be on it’s way out. No word from the RV people since I emailed the registration. If I don’t hear from them by this afternoon I’ll call to make sure they got the email.
Update 4 (8/6): The motor home is home again! I’m happy about that but not too happy that my CD collection is gone, and that the registration was sitting right on the passenger seat. Grrr.
Update 4.1 (8/7ish): I found the CD case. I hate when I do that but it was due to an optical illusion that I didn’t see it. I did tell them it was missing but stopped short of accusing them of anything, so I don’t feel too bad, but a little bit.
Update 4.11 (8/9): It’s going to [be] roughly 2 – 3 weeks before my car is fixed.
More updates to come.
Well now! Here we are.
I talked to the mechanic this morning and he said they should be starting my car this week. There’s still one engine job ahead of mine (there were two).
When I picked up the motorhome, the check engine light (CEL) was on so I went inside to get someone to check it out. The CO/Propane detector was beeping too so I knew it wouldn’t have been wise to just keep going. lol. The detector was just because of low voltage in the house batteries (grrr). That’s another story but I think the batteries are ok as they have been holding a charge for over a week now.
The CEL, when they put the code reader on it, showed a misfire. I think it was cylinder 7 misfire but I really wasn’t paying too close attention unfortunately. They fiddled under the hood and got it to clear, and it ran fine all the way home. I guessed it was just from sitting so long or something. But when I started it the other day the CEL was on and it ran rough. I used the MoHo to run some errands and hoped that driving it would clear up whatever was going on, but it didn’t. So I need to have that checked ASAP. I read online (after the fact) that it’s not good to drive it with a misfire…could damage the engine. Daaaaaaaamn!
I have plans for my first trip with the MoHo (other than day trips) this weekend so I hope the problem 1) is minor (maybe spark plug wires or something simple and cheap(ish) like that, and 2) quick, so I can have it for my trip starting Friday. I was going to buy a new camera for the trip but decided I better wait and see what this newest crisis unfolds. I feel like if the “kid” was able to get it to clear just by reaching under the hood (I wish I’d watched or asked what he did), it’s probably something simple as I mentioned above. Fingers crossed. C’mon I deserve a break today.
Going to buy a OBDII scanner. I think with two vehicles it might be good to be able to check on issues and determine if I should get things checked ASAP or immediately.
UPDATE: Got me a OBD2 scanner. Maybe it’ll be helpful someday lol., or maybe I just wasted more money. I vote for helpful.
The MoHo is home and running fine. It was a bad spark plug wire, coil and spark plug. Not as cheap as it sounds but what is nowadays. I also need a tune up in the near future as he didn’t have time to do that right now, just time to get me back up ‘n’ running.
I leave for my trip tomorrow AM. Wish me luck. If all goes well, it’ll be a great weekend. More in a later post.
Happy Life!