Back in March, my grandfather was generous enough to give me money to buy a car. I lost my beloved '05 Cobalt due to Hurricane Sandy and because we didn't have a certain amount of coverage on it, we received no insurance money for the loss (RIP Lady). It was a limited budget but it was enough to get me something with four wheels and an engine and it more money than I had at the time. I spent about a week scouring Craigslist with much hesitation as I was worried I was going to end up with what I dubbed "Sandy cars;" cars that had water damage from Sandy but the owners/salvagers "fixed" them up and then resold them. I bought my Cobalt from a dealership but the amount of money my grandpa gave me wasn't enough to purchase one--it made a decent down payment amount but at the time, I wasn't making enough money at my old job to be able to afford monthly payments.
My family has been going to the same mechanic for about 20 years. They do great work and we trust them. One day, my dad brought the van in for service and since they knew we were from Long Beach, asked us how we were doing since the storm. My dad mentioned that I did not have a car. They had a car on their lot that belonged to an old woman who I guess didn't need/want it anymore. It's a '97 Mazda Millenia.
This is what my car looks like. This is not my car.
I went and took a look at it. There's some dents and scratches on the body and doors but it ran pretty well and the inside was clean. I felt a little pressured to buy it from my parents because at the time my mom and I were sharing her truck and my dad would have to drive her to and from work so I could take the truck to work in the afternoon & evening plus school. So I bought it! I couldn't go another week without wheels of my own.
The first issue I had was in April. I was on the Meadowbrook Pkway on my way home from patrol when my battery light came on. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out because 1) I've never experienced this before and 2) I had no idea what the hell this meant. I called my dad who said not to worry and that I'd make it home as long as my engine was running. I did but my headlights and dashboard lights got increasingly dimmer as I chugged along. I brought the car to the mechanic the next morning, thinking that I might need a new battery. My dad it was probably the alternator, but it shouldn't be too expensive. That afternoon I got a call: $500. I was very grumbly but I paid.
My next issue came at the end of May/beginning of June. After I dropped my friend Amy off at the airport for her trip to Kenya, I noticed a really high pitched squealing sound coming from my front passenger wheel. I called up my uncle who happens to be a mechanic and asked that if he could take a look at it if I stopped by. He peeked in with a flashlight and said that I needed front brake pads and the sound I was hearing was the "warning" sound. I couldn't be too annoyed because brakes are a normal part of care maintenance. So I drove home and began looking online where I could get them done. Usually my family gets our brakes done at Mavis because they're cheap and the one in LB we've never had a problem with. I took it to the one in Levittown where they said I not only needed brake pads, but also new rotors and a new caliper pin which would run to tune of $700. I nearly cried in the garage. I told him to put all the old stuff back on the car and that I was going somewhere else. Thankfully, my mechanic did it all for me and all I had to pay for was the brake pads. I did need a caliper pin but he cut me a break (no pun intended).
Yesterday was the most random problem I think I will ever have with a car. My visor mirrors seem to have become unglued due to the record heat we've had this summer. A couple weeks ago I tried to glue them back myself with limited success. I've just been avoiding using my visor so that the mirror doesn't hang down in front my eyes by the wire. Well yesterday I went to put my sunshade in my windshield and as I pulled my visor down, the mirror completely broke from it's electrical wires (they have lights) and fell into my lap. I went to readjust the visor and as I did, the two ends of the electrical wires touched (while my engine was running of course), and it short circuited my car. My radio stopped working, I couldn't lock/unlock my doors, and my A/C would automatically turn on when I started the car. Needless to say I FREAKED OUT. I called my mechanic told him what happened and he said I probably just blew a fuse and to bring it in after work. I just got the call and I got it fixed for free. I'm pretty sure the guy is sick of seeing my face which, no offense, but I'm kinda sick of seeing his too. Hopefully this is the last streak of bad luck I have for a while and that my car stays in the decent condition I've been keeping it in.
If something else goes wrong, I'm seriously considering performing an exorcism on this car because it has some bad ju-ju.
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