The car looks kind of pretty in this picture but it isn't. It is a piece of crap. We got a new car. You see, this car has slowly been falling apart. It all started right around the time Cyrus decided to go back to school to become a dentist (another LLOOOOOONNNGGG story). These are all the things that have been wrong with the van in recent years:
Water pump broke
Timing got off when Cyrus tried to fix the water pump himself.
It stalled in intersections and had a hard time getting going when you pushed the gas. They replaced some wires--sound cheap and easy but it wasn't.
A flat tire tore off the place where you put gas in plus tore a big hole in the bumper.
New head gasket
Old head gasket had been improperly replaced so we had to rebuild the whole engine.
Some mechanic had broken off a piece of something in one of the spark plugs which broke something else which we had to fix. I don't know what it was but it cost a lot.
Some mechanic left a tool in the fan and broke the fan. Too bad we had to see about a million different mechanics to finally get the van fixed right so we don't know which one broke it twice.
All hoses replaced.
New brakes, twice (fixed wrong once).
Oil pan replaced.
So the end came when I took all four kids to Walmart (I know, WHAT WAS I THINKING) and we got this cart full of crap out to the parking lot and all the coolant was all over the ground. I went back inside and called Cyrus on a pay phone (since Sam had thrown my cell phone in the toilet). Of course, despite my earnest prayers, Cyrus didn't pick up and I just lost it...(crying, of course) "Hi honey, I was hoping you would answer the phone because I am at Walmart and the car is broken and the coolant is all over the ground and I don't know what to do and I had to use a pay phone so Bye." Meanwhile Sam is climbing all over that thing that they use to round up the carts and dropping his animal crackers our of his little box all over the floor, the girls are running all over--playing tag, picking out which toy they would get out of the grab the toy game, trying to pick up Sam who in turn screams like a girl. It was awful. I went in the store and bought some water,filled the radiator and made it home on a prayer.
We tried our darndest to see if we could fix the car, we had Curt look at it and our neighbor, Don look at it, but in the end, it was going to be another expensive fix so we sold it on Craig's list, made enough to get out of the lease on the Yaris and traded up for a light blue Sienna. Now we are a one car family again but I feel much better. Hopefully no one will ever again see me crying on the pay phone in Walmart while my kids destoy the store!! (Also, I got a new phone!)
5 comments:
You guys deserved every little bit of that Sienna, Annie. What heaven. You will LOVE driving it down the Disneyland too!!!! When we drove into the YMCA today, Alyse spotted the Sienna right away. It wasn't hard to switch from looking for the white van to your blue beauty!! Halelujah to new cars and donuts on Saturday mornings!!!
What a story! I am glad that you have a reliable vehicle now. There's nothing scarier than wondering if your car will fall apart on the freeway!
You got me thinking about a Sienna too (years down the road) after talking on our way to the temple.
Annie...I almost cried when I read your story. I'm so sorry to hear that! I hate cars when they don't do what they are supposed to. It just adds so much stress to life. Just think....in a year or two you will be able to buy a brand new one! I hope you ate some good chocolate when you got home and locked the kids in their rooms. LOL. You are a strong woman!
Patience,
I already got a BRAND NEW CAR!!! It is much better.
"New brakes, twice (fixed wrong once)."
That's just scary. I'm getting my brakes fixed as I type this. I hope they fix them the right way.
I found your site after searching for people who had their vehicles torn up by a flat tire. Join the club. This may end up costing me $300 for a stupid headlight. Grrr.
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