Friday, January 11, 2008

Car Issues and Awesome Friends!
For a couple of months now, my car has been idling pretty hard, to the point where I feel like it's going to die. Well...twice in a period of two weeks, it did die - once at a stop sign and once as I was turning using a median. When my dad heard this, he of course wanted me to get it fixed ASAP. We took my car to Pep Boys on Christmas Eve so that they could do a diagnostic, hoping that it was only the battery that needed to be replaced. Sure enough it was the battery, not the alternator. The man at Pep Boys proceeded to tell me that it was going to cost $146 to replace my battery. Why, you ask? Because I have a car that requires you to remove the tire in order to replace the battery. What in the world were they thinking when designing this car?? This is also the car that requires you to unscrew the fender just to replace the headlight. Now I know at least two more things to look for when purchasing a new vehicle! My dad and I decided that $146 seemed a little (okay, a lot) high to charge for a battery replacement so we went to Wal-Mart which was right across the street. They replaced my battery for $37. I know three things as a result of this incident - 1) I will NOT be returning to Pep Boys, 2) I will continue to shop at Wal-Mart and 3) I will NOT be purchasing another Dodge.

Today, 3 weeks later, I got in my car and turned the key. It dinged for a millisecond and then completely went dead. My lights don't work (no...I didn't leave them on all night), my locks don't work, and not a sound comes out of the car when I turn the key. Thankfully I was able to get my friend Sarah to pick me up. Everyone that I've talked to said it sounds like my battery may have become detached. Thanks to Mike, I have AAA and will be contacting them to help me with my battery issues (hopefully that's all it is).

My friend Diana called me as she got to work and said she wanted to come by my office. She brought me a chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A and a sweet tea because she felt sorry for me. What an awesome surprise!!

4 comments:

LoriLoo310 said...

I DESPISE Pep Boys. They scammed me out of so much money when I was at ACU. And because of them, I had to spend and entire summer in Abilene with no air conditioner in my car. In my small car. In my small, black car. Pep Boys is on my list of companies that this world would be better off without.

Anonymous said...

Good to know about Pep Boys...I've had my battery replaced at Wal Mart too. But I hope you get your car troubles behind you soon - it stinks to have to mess with that!

Akilez said...

Sorry to hear about your car.

Advise.

You already have the battery(don't buy a new one)please check the Alternator, Voltage Regulator,battery cable should be clean and check Solenoid (if your car has one) and I am sorry but you have to go back to Pep Boys there on of the cheapest and if your car broke down again, they will fix it again and again with no charge.

trust me and take care

jennifer said...

How's the car???