Friday, August 12, 2005
my luck with cars
I have THE worst luck with cars. I'm not just talking about how my last one got stolen, or how I bought a lemon this time around. I'm talking about luck here.
It all started when I was driving out at whiskeytown lake just sightseeing and whatnot. My battery light comes on, I figured, "oh, fine, the alternator belt probably just came loose or something". I make it back into town in time to get to wal*mart (the only place open that late at night) to see if they have a spare alternator belt for my car. When I get there, I realize that, oh, shit, I got in an accident last week and my hood is jammed shut from my fender bender Well, after a bit of hassle, we get the hood opened and see that the alternator belt is attached fine and spinning up a storm like it's supposed to. No need to be at wally world. I park my car at James' house (go figure) to work on it later, and catch a ride back to the place I'm living at. That was last Thursday.
I do my thing that weekend, move in to my townhouse in Chico, put the furniture together, fun fun. Get back on Sunday night to take a look at the car and decide that the alternator is bad. Logical assumption based on the facts. I take it out and wait until Monday to take it in to Kragen and get a replacement. I had them test my old one in their magic machine to see if it is indeed the alternator, and it fails all three tests. I say I want a new one so they look it up on the computer (what's that, a '91 civic ... LX, you say ... ) and believe it or not (!) they have one in stock. I buy it on the spot ($162) and give them my old one. I went home and installed it, but when I was done it was past 7PM, closing time over at Kragen, so I wait until Tuesday to go back to have it tested.
I drove up with my freshly installed brand spankin' new alternator and it tests - bad? I wonder if I installed it right, but it's only 2 bolts and a couple wire connectors and I'm confident in my work. The lady there was real nice and ordered me another brand new alternator from the Kragen down the road. I'm left on Tuesday wondering why my car doesn't work yet, hoping it's not a wiring issue...
Wednesday. I go in and pick up my new-new part (that was tested to work) and take it back to James' house where my car is still up on blocks. I put it in, convinced that my car is going to work this time. I got it in before 7PM so I took it right down to Kragen to have them test it. I didn't get the nice lady who helped me before - I got the assistant manager from hell. I kid you not, he is a complete jackass with a feather duster in his back pocket. More on him later. Anyway, I have him test the charging system and, without too much suprise, it tests bad. I'm stumped.
Thursday during my lunch break I managed to arc-weld a wrench to the frame, but that's another story. I took the car in to Norm, my honda mechanic, to have him take a look at it. He looks it over for a few minutes and not only confirms that the alternator is not functioning, but it's the wrong type of alternator. Something about the pin configuration being different or something. I say cool, I'll just let him fix it. He tells me to bring the old alternator to him and he can rebuild it and put it back in. After work, I have a co-worker drive me to Kragen to return my brand new alternator and get my old one back. I walk in the store with part in hand and explain to assistant-asshole that he sold me the wrong part and I want a refund. He lets me know that "we don't do returns on parts once they've been installed". Well shit, it's been used for a total of, oh, say 2.5 miles, only minor scratches from installation, but hey, I'll bite it this time. I tell him that's fine, I just want my old one back so I can have it rebuilt. After arguing over whether or not it has shipped out yet, he goes back and gets it for me (it was still in the store). He puts it on the counter and asks how I'd like to pay for it. PAY FOR IT. This, the alternator I just gave them 2 days prior after buying a BRAND NEW ONE at full retail that he just told me is USELESS TO ME. Kragen charged me $40 to get the broken alternator I had originally given them back. I held my tounge and politely slid my debit card and walked out of the store - less $200 - with the SAME problem I walked in the store with 3 days before.
I dropped the car off at my mechanics and slid the key under the door so he could get to it first thing Friday. Well, turns out to be another $196 for him to fix it and put the working alternator in. I picked up the car during lunch today (Friday) and paid the money and the car seems to work fine; I'm still going to take the volt-meter to it though.
Cost of a rebuilt alternator: $60; Amount I paid: $400; Lesson learned: the hard way
♥