eredien: Dancing Dragon (Default)
[personal profile] eredien
[livejournal.com profile] rax and I just paid a lot of $ to fix the car last month, and it had been working well, so I felt confident driving to NY.

Now I am stuck in the parking lot at the rest area because I stopped for a drink of water, came out, and car won't go. Even jumping it didn't seem to help. It has oil. I don't know what's wrong. I suspect the stupid "pigtail" part of the battery/alternator that they just replaced broke again somehow.

I'm 70 miles from where I am supposed to be and have no idea how to get our car back to my hometown or to Boston. It is 2 in the morning. My parents have to drive an hour here to get me and then we get to leave the car here and/or do car repair at 3 am and/or come back for it in the morning.

I was supposed to hang out with my parents this weekend and outline an essay for Readercon and try to relax. Instead I bet I will be spending a lot of time and money. I wonder if I will even be coming home the same way I got here.

This was definitely the wrong week to also buy photoshop.

At least they have the internet, so I can complain.

Update: I was driven home by my parents. I got to see one beautiful orange moon in a dark purple sky, one sunrise (we got home at about 5 am), and the problem was *not* the alternator! The problem is the shift thingy sticking such that the car thought it shouldn't start because it wasn't in park because the fail-safe wasn't closed all the way (even though it was in park). It can be fixed with a little bit of lubricant.

The vacation isn't ruined, actually. :)

(no subject)

9/5/09 06:04 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
Oh ouch. *hugs*

(no subject)

9/5/09 06:27 (UTC)
sovay: (Default)
Posted by [personal profile] sovay
*hugs*

Where in New York are you?

(no subject)

9/5/09 06:38 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] csbermack.livejournal.com
Usually, if a car breaks with the same problem it had when you took it in (and not a completely unrelated problem), they'll fix it for free. I don't know if it's in the law, insurance rules, or whatever, but I know that the norm is they fix it. I don't know if the norm is that they tow it, too, but I think getting rax worked up into a holy snit to rip them a new one should get that covered, too. If your parents have a mechanic buddy who owes them a favor, they could try to get him out there to take a look at it and see if it's the same problem.

This is an appropriate time for a snit.

Also, for future reference, if you are not an AAA member, you can become one on the phone when you call them to come tow your butt. If the shop will do the repair free but won't tow it, it might be cheaper to join the platinum AAA membership to get the extra towing distance.

If they won't work with you to make it right, and it turns out to be the same problem, it's probably time for a BBB report.

Oh, and you might already be all over this, but you might want to call whoever it is who runs the rest stop. They might be aggressive about towing apparently abandoned cars.

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you, but I'm glad you were close enough to home to get a ride. It sucks but you're safe, and that's the important bit. I hope you manage to have a good weekend anyway!

(no subject)

9/5/09 12:08 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] rax.livejournal.com
"Put Cassandra on my AAA membership" was already on my tasklist but had lost the battle against grad school.

I'm perfectly happy to raise holy hell with them --- the car was working fine, they said it needed $1200 of work or it would stop working, we believed them, it's now had a problem with the thing they fixed twice. I don't really have much time either but I am good at yelling.

(no subject)

9/5/09 07:07 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] krinndnz.livejournal.com
Good luck resolving that. There's never exactly a good time for things like this to happen, but they never seem to happen at even moderately cushioned times.

(no subject)

9/5/09 07:36 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] silussa.livejournal.com
I had something similar happen once. In my case, it was the fuel pump. also not cheap, as these days they tend to be inside the gas tank.

Good luck.

(no subject)

9/5/09 10:56 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] daisho.livejournal.com
I hope you at least find a reasonable way to get home. And per [livejournal.com profile] cshiley's suggestion, I also heartily recommend breakdown cover, if you can in any way afford it. You might never need it, but it's definitely worth having in situations like this.

Sorry to hear the weekend's been messed up, in any event. :/

(no subject)

9/5/09 11:00 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] kaypendragon.livejournal.com
This is why I spend the $30 every year to be a member of AAA. And sometimes, cars suck. Sorry your's chose vacation time to do so...

(no subject)

9/5/09 11:07 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] baphnedia.livejournal.com
As Kaypendragon said - AAA. If you'd like, I can bang my head on my desk for you (so you don't have to either ruin your dashboard or your desk when you DO get home)...

(no subject)

9/5/09 11:36 (UTC)
zdenka: Miriam with a tambourine, text "I will sing." (lilies of the valley)
Posted by [personal profile] zdenka
Oh, that is Not Best. *hugs*

Good luck with the repairs.

(no subject)

9/5/09 12:59 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] arcturax.livejournal.com
Oh crap :(

You guys should get AAA or something like that. It's worth it for when things go wrong, especially at 2AM!

(no subject)

9/5/09 13:49 (UTC)
ext_76029: red dragon (Default)
Posted by [identity profile] copperwolf.livejournal.com
Sorry your weekend away is ruined. FWIW, my cousin who lives in Boston favors buses as a way to travel to New York, usually the cheap lines that go from Chinatown to Chinatown... but I don't know if New York City is where you need to get to.

Alternative to AAA: Better World Club Premium membership, which offers towing coverage up to 100 miles, costs $90 for the first member and $30 for each extra driver. They also offer bicycle roadside assistance for a little extra. If you join now with Car Talk radio show as your referrer, you can get either a Car Talk CD or 10% off the first year of membership.

(no subject)

9/5/09 17:43 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] ab3nd.livejournal.com
That's a miserable time and place for it to fail. I hope everything else goes well this weekend.

(no subject)

9/5/09 18:07 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] friode.livejournal.com
A lack of oil is unlikely to prevent an engine from starting (though it could prevent the engine from having a substantial lifetime after the engine starts).

One of the arguments in favor of synthetic oil over conventional oil is that synthetic oil supposedly will stick to the surfaces of the engine while the car sits parked, whereas conventional oil will drain off the surfaces of the engine into the oil pan at the bottom of the engine. So effectively, several decades ago it was the case that every single automobile engine started without oil coating the parts that come in contact with each other for at least the first few seconds or something of its operation.

(no subject)

10/5/09 19:39 (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] postrodent.livejournal.com
Yech! That sounds aggravating and anxiety-inducing in equal measure. Very glad you were rescued.

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