Less money, mo' problems

You know, once I take care of something, I'd like it to remain taken care of. That's my philosophy with washing dishes, doing laundry, and mowing my lawn. Unfortunately, the universe tends to disagree with me on that.

Two years and eight months ago I spent rather a lot of money getting my exhaust system replaced. It was a bit of a hack job, even though it was done by my dealer - my Toyota dealer, that is. There's not much call for exhaust systems for 1996 Toyota Tercels these days, so they had to get something close and cut and weld it until it fit. I was warned that what they had put on there was not the highest-quality stuff you could get - but since I only expected to keep my car for a few more months back then, I was OK with that.

Hah.

About three weeks ago my car started to make a noise. Sort of a growl, low and mean. Usually Tercels are very quiet cars. When my old Tercel stared to make a noise like that, it meant the engine was just about out of oil and was only a few minutes from dying. I checked the oil, and sure enough it was low - which is not surprising, as I have been losing oil fast enough that I am now checking the level at every time I get gas, at least three times every two weeks. But that wasn't it. I added a quart of oil and the noise remained.

It got louder as time passed. I imagined a small rust hole had appeared somewhere in the muffler and was gradually getting bigger. I found ways of working around it; I found "sweet spots" where I could hold my accelerator and make the noise go away. I started to debate the cost and benefits of repairing this car again to the cost and benefits of getting a new car.

There wasn't much to debate there. I'd like to get a new car, though I had hoped by the time my car was this old there would already be second-generation alternative-fuel vehicles being mass-produced. That's not true yet, though the rising cost of oil is steering people towards the first-generation alternatives. Still, I'm barely getting by with my current financial situation - truth be told, I'm not even doing that. I simply cannot afford a car payment at this time.

This morning the noise coming from my car abruptly changed. It became louder, more desperate, harder to ignore, more jaw-rattling. I got to work and started to go through the phone book looking for muffler shops.

The first one was no good - they only stay open until 5:00, and the guy had no idea how to check to see if they had mufflers available for my car. The second place seemed better - they were open until 7:30, and said they had the muffler available. They arranged a "free evaluation" for me today at 5:30. That was fine, but I would rather have just scheduled a repair appointment.

My car roared most of the way to the muffler shop. I was able to define sweet spots everywhere, usually just a notch or so below whatever speed I was doing. The car roared on uphill climbs and on foot-off-the-pedal decelerations, but purred at 52 if I was doing 55, and so on.

I made it there and they took me in in a few minutes. The kid who drove my car in seemed to enjoy the sound - he even did a little VROOM VROOM as he pulled onto the lift. People would pay good money to make their cars sound like that, I thought.

He lifted up the car and looked at in from below. It was the first time in 12 years I have seen the car from that angle, and it looked a lot better than I imagined. But the exhaust system didn't look so good. After a few minutes of inspection he called me out to show me the rust-covered welds all along the exhaust system. Then he took me back to show me the muffler.

"See, there's your problem right there," I said as he showed me the exhaust pipe, which was completely detached from the muffler. "The muffler no longer comes into play."

So. I have a creeping feeling I could just get the muffler replaced for half the price they are quoting me, but that would connect a good muffler to a dying exhaust system. Would I want to do this? But by replacing the whole shebang, I am committing myself to hold onto this car for a while longer.

Michelle offers her condolences. I'm thinking of getting the words "GHETTO LEXUS" across the top of my windshield.

Funny thing is, it's not just me. My sister had some repair work planned for her car this weekend - she is coming in from out of state, and was able to get a much lower quoted price on the extensive costs for her repairs at a dealer not far from here. Thing is, when my mom called the dealer today about an unrelated matter (see below) and inquired about my sister's car, she was met with a wall of befuddlement. The parts had never been ordered. Nobody seemed to know what she was talking about. When my sister called to get to the bottom of it, they claimed they had no record of her appointment or her quote - and when they re-quoted the work, it was now 80% more expensive! She has now arranged to get the work done somewhere else. It's still expensive, sure - but only 50% more expensive than what these people had originally quoted.

My brother may have wrecked the engine on his truck hauling landscaping materials this weekend. His truck is old, even older than my Tercel, though it has fewer miles on it.

Yesterday my mom's Check Engine light came on. She's due for an inspection, anyway.

All during the crappiest economy any of us have seen in a loooong time - since my mom was a little girl during the Depression and the years of war rationing, I suppose.


Title reference: "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G., Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, and Mase. This was popular during my dance hall days at Tink's.