Paying for Those Trips

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Although this might seem like a gripe, it really isn’t. It’s a fact of life and I’m happy about it. I spent most of Wednesday at the car dealer while they worked on my car for the scheduled 100,000 mile maintenance. (It’s not at 100k miles yet, but close enough to just go ahead and get it done.) In addition to that and a mediocre lunch at the only nearby place (Subway), it cost me about $1,750. Oh, and another $2,100 is on the way. Ouch, right? Well, you gotta pay for those trips! There’s an old saying that goes, “Saying ‘car trouble’ is redundant, because if you’ve got a car, you’ve got trouble.” It’s true. Paying it off is one thing, but you never finish paying off car insurance, scheduled maintenance, and gas fill ups. But I enjoy having a car and not having to rely on public transportation and/or Uber, so it’s not that big a deal. Now, let me tell you about the blessings. Although I’m sure our financial guru Jim will roll his eyes at me for this, I always get my car maintenance done at the dealership. First, they know my car better than anybody down at Joe’s Auto Shop. (Proof: I had a tire with a roofing nail in it and I took it to a local chain of tire/maintenance shops. They tried to charge me $30 for “TPMS” valves that my year of Honda DOES NOT HAVE. When I told them that they quickly refunded my money.) Secondly, eventually there will be something that shows up that they’ll say, “Oh, we can’t fix that, you’re gonna have to take it to a Honda dealer.” I’ll never hear that AT a Honda dealer! Thirdly, their inspections are pretty darn precise…and that was evident Wednesday. One of the things they found in the “routine inspection” was a wire that had evidence that a rodent had tried to have it for breakfast. A quick and simple solution, with “rodent-repellent wrap” around the replaced wires. The other thing — and the reason for the impending credit card meltdown of $2,100 — is they also found evidence of an early-onset oil leak. They were able to determine (because they know these cars) exactly what and where the leak is being caused from. They didn’t have to do that, “Oh, we’ll check but it’ll cost you $500 for us to inspect it” crap you get from Joe’s Auto Shop. The problem in question is a little $50 O ring seal in the back of the car. The other $2,050 is for labor to take the transmission down so they can reach where the leak is. It’s not an urgent thing (they assured me they’d have me sign a waiver if the problems were too dangerous for the car to be safely driven), but I will get it fixed as soon as the property tax bill arrives (it’ll be online tomorrow morning). And, yes, $2,100 IS a lot to pay. However, it is much, MUCH cheaper than a new engine that could result from a leaking oil problem (I looked that up, and a new engine — just the engine — is about $6,000, with rebuilt ones running about $2,500…and that is without the labor). It’s also cheaper than buying a new car ($2,100 would be about $700 a month, which is what your average car payment is these days). Nah, I’m blessed. So I’ll be getting that repaired soon and watching my credit card melt when they put it in the reader to pay for it. On the bright side, it’ll be getting more more hotel points for free nights…AND we’ll be good to go for the next 100,000 miles of adventures!!! The photo is another look at Tower Rock with the depleted Mississippi River.