To give some background - several months ago, we noticed a horrendous grinding noise from one of our brakes. After much cursing and some fretting on my part (car things make me freak out like nobody's business) we took the van into Midas. They promised they'd fix it first thing in the morning.
Come the next morning, I get a call and they tell me that one of our headlights is burned out. This is...odd, to say the least, as I hadn't really noticed it beforehand. I tell them to change it, and that I'd be there in several hours to pick up my van.
I get to the shop, and I am told that there is more to the problem then they initially thought. After changing all of the bulbs in my van several times, and fussing about, they come to the conclusion that the modulator-convertor-alternator-computer thingy bobber is bad. They quote me a price of nearly $600 to get a new one, along with a wait of nearly two weeks. I'm not so keen on this idea, and decide to go the used route. They call around, and find no used ones, but assure me that a used part of this kind will work just fine.
They LIED!
We get the part, change it out. It doesn't work. I send it back to the company, get another one, and it works. For the first day. See, the funny thing about this particular problem is that it doesn't happen all the time. When my lights are on, my drivers side light is out. When my brights go on, my passenger side goes out. Every time I explain this to a mechanic, they look at me like I've grown a second head. This thing happens sporadically, sometimes even flashing off and on while we're driving down the highway. We get pulled over several times, but we always explain we are working on it, and we never get a ticket.
After last nights fun little adventure in super freak out mode, we took the car into Tire Rama. If you live in Missoula, go to the Tire Rama on Stephens. They are good people, and they've always taken good care of me. And the owner is from the hi-line. My parents are going to pay for this little fix, so I give him the information and my name.
I tell him my name, and I get, "So! Who do you belong to?" and we begin to discuss my family. It sure is nice being back in Montana and related to half the state. ;)
They find what they believe to be the cause of the flashing, honking, pea-soup-spewing antics of my van. There is a large amount of corrosion on my battery, and they feel that triggered the alarm system. Plausible cause, and as long as my car doesn't go all Linda Blair on me again, I am content to let it rest.
And then we begin to discuss the bizarre headlight issue we've experienced. And they tell me that Dodge has issued not one, not two, but FOUR new parts since my car was released in 2000. Which means that when we got those used parts? We were getting old ones. That didn't work, and still had this issue. Yeap. $400 or so in parts and labor down the damn drain.
The shop here quotes me $400 for the part. Ugh. I call Mommy, and she gives the green light. It's something that has to be fixed eventually and they tell me at the shop that if it doesn't work, of course they'll send it back and we'll be back to the drawing board.
So now, I have a car that (hopefully, knock on wood) will not decide to randomly beep and flash and murder Catholic priests. As long as THAT stays good, I really don't care if I only have one headlight.
Tonight? Off to a jewelry class while the husband heads off to a night of BASH with friends. I am feeling less anxious today, and less likely to stab things in the face. I don't feel like I need to curl up and cry, and I think that maybe - just maybe - everything is going to be ok.
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