Friday, November 13, 2009 - Friday the 13th

Hadn't even realized it was Friday the 13th until Cara mentioned it to me on the way home. It was only mentioned because we had been hit with a bit of bad news - my car needs to have its transmission rebuilt. Seems like a bearing in the differential went south and tore things up a bit, sending little shards of metal throughout the entire transmission...among other things. I have been having trouble with my car for about 18 months with a nagging bit of vibration in the front end that has turned into complete annoyance over the last six months. I had wheel bearings replaced, new struts, a new rim, four new tires, balancing and rotating everything, alignment...you name it, it's been looked at. I even had the front axles replaced, found out they weren't the issue, and had the old ones put back on. Finally I was told to take it to Mr. Transmission...which I knew was the kiss of death. They don't really give away transmission service any more like they used to. In fact, they charge quite a bit. And what leg do you have to stand on? They can't figure it out without taking off the transmission and tearing it apart. A transmission has more than 200 parts and it's not like they can piece it back together and send you on your way without fixing it.

As we all know, Americans have a love affair with their cars, and I feel like the relationship with mine is on shaky ground. I do really like my car, a 2003 Honda CRV. Six years old with only about 80,000 miles on it. But Hondas are well known for not having engine and transmission problems, which has caused me to be quite bummed quite about this. People love to get new cars every couple of years if they are able, but I am very happy with my Honda, and clearly expect to have it another three years until Clayton begins to drive. At that point it will be nearly 10 years old with around 120,000 miles on it. Even though this repair would equate to about five or six months worth of new Honda car payments, it's not like we could get anything on trade for a CRV with no transmission...or the bagful of used transmission parts we would lug to the dealer. So, we'll suck it up and hope to get it back Monday, then cross our fingers that this solves the problem once and for all. Then I will wash the car and hope it drives just like new. With any luck the newly cleaned car will get construction dust all over it throughout the rest of the week.