A Car Adventure Chapter 2

You may have noticed I’ve been inactive lately. In part because I’m still dealing with automobile troubles!

In Chapter 1, I got in a car accident. My car was totaled, and I had to buy a new one. This is the second installment of my exciting car troubles.

An Unfortunate Start

The continuation of this story happened not even a week after I bought my 2011 Ford Fiesta. I named her Pepper because she’s peppy. I drove to work, moving slowly west in bumper-to-bumper traffic caused by the CU college crowd flooding the town.

A couple cars ahead of me, a van pulled into the road, trying to turn left. Our slow lane stopped while the turning van crept forward. That van didn’t look right before completing its left turn and collided with a car coming from the east. I sat immobile, stuck in front and back in traffic, as the east car swerved towards me.

They rammed my driver’s side mirror but miraculously left the rest unscathed. I heaved a sob of relief. I pulled into a side street, then walked over to meet those involved in the bulk of the accident. The left-turner was a 16-year-old kid driving his mom’s van. The girl in the collided east car was 19. Both were born this side of 2000, which made me feel old.

Neither had any idea what to do. I’d just recently been through an accident, and as a veteran of driving calamities, I knew the drill. I ensured they were both okay, and we called 911 to report the accident. We exchanged numbers and information and documented the scene with photos.

Fun with Paperwork

Only one wrinkle: I was not the car accident veteran I imagined myself. When I called 911, I stood on the side of a busy road. I barely heard the person on the phone. I asked her to repeat herself many times. Before the call ended, she tried to tell me something I couldn’t understand. Since no one was hurt, all the cars were driveable, and no airbags had been deployed, I assumed this situation was similar to my other car accident. In that accident, the police didn’t come out for something so minor and told us to file a report online.

So, I left and went to work. Not too long after, I got a call from the police officer who’d arrived at the scene. I told him where I worked, and he met me there. He explained that the police always come for car accidents within city limits. My previous accident had been outside city limits, in state patrol jurisdiction. I shouldn’t have left the site of the accident. Oops.

This misunderstanding aside, he asked to see my paperwork. First, he wanted my address. Fun story. The same week I purchased a new car, I also moved to a new apartment. My life was chaos. I couldn’t tell the man something as simple as my address because I couldn’t remember my new one. I had to look it up.

Then he asked for my registration. Well, just bought the car the week prior, and I hadn’t yet gone to the DMV to get the new registration. I was lucky that I still had the dealer registration in the car.

Insurance came next. Again, I just bought my new car, and unsurprisingly, my insurance wasn’t up-to-date. I gave him the insurance for my previous car. It had my policy number, and that was all he really needed.

Finally, he asked for my driver’s license. Thank goodness, I thought, a document I won’t need to make excuses for. Little did I know that you’re supposed to update the address on your license every time you move. He looked up my address, and it didn’t match.

We eventually got it all sorted. He took my statement and told me to file a claim with the insurance of the kid with the van. I did so and was told that someone would contact me shortly.

Insurance, Gotta Love It

I was in no hurry. My car drove fine. Even the affected mirror was usable. So, half a week passed without any contact before I called the insurance company. No answer from the person assigned to my account. So, I called the insurance company again. They put me through to a manager who also failed to answer.

I don’t get good reception at my office, so when I left at the end of the day, I saw they had each left me a message. I finally got in touch. They told me I’d need to take the car to a repair shop and get an estimate.

I was still moving the last of my stuff to the new apartment. I was crazy busy at work, working overtime on multiple projects. I went to my cousin’s wedding. I ran myself ragged. A couple of weeks passed before I finally got an estimate.

They wanted to replace the whole mirror for an estimated $1200, but the insurance company only gave me $600. They also gave me an estimate for a leak in the windscreen wiper reservoir: $150. Thank you.

Fuck Dealers

A month or so after I bought Pepper, her check engine light came on. I had trouble filling up the ‘E-Z fill’ gas. I’d try to pump, and the pump stopped after 20 seconds. I’d have to wait a few seconds before I could try again. It took forever.

My frustration mounted. The issues with my new car stacked up.

I took Pepper to the nearby Ford dealer, Sil-Ter-Har. They charged me $170 just to take a look. I later learned—from Meineke—that you can get the check engine light diagnosed for free at most car service places. Sil-Ter-Har was not inclined to illuminate me, so I paid the ridiculous up-front fee. They quoted me $850 to fix the issue, plus $275 to fix the windshield wiper reservoir. Enraged, I declined their service.

On the advice of my dads, I got a second opinion. I took Pepper to a nearby Meineke. They drove my car around and fixed my windshield wiper reservoir. The hose had just come unplugged, so they plugged it back in. No charge. Fuck the Sil-Ter-Har! The angels of Meineke enlightened me about the check engine light service and told me I had a 420 code. Many jokes were made. This code is associated with fuel emissions and is generally linked to issues with the catalytic converter. Unfortunately, the Meineke technicians couldn’t tell me what was wrong. They apologized and didn’t charge me a single cent. They were beyond classy and very transparent, but my car still had issues. I had to return to the Sil-Ter-Har.

I painfully coughed up that $850 arm and leg. Afterward, my car ran fine; the check engine light went off, and I could fill up the gas without having to start and stop every 20 seconds. I thought all my troubles were over.

Then the check engine light came on again. I went back to the Sil-Ter-Har to complain. That was when they told me about a ‘second’ issue: I needed a new catalytic converter and that I needed to fix this issue to pass emissions tests. They claimed I had to fix the first issue before fixing the second issue and apologized for neglecting to even mention this bullshit previously. I asked them what they had even fixed with my money! They gave me excuses. I already shelled out hundreds of dollars. They wanted to charge me a couple thousand to fix this ‘second issue.’ I declined their service.

At least I could fill up my gas tank, but I don’t know what they did. Sil-Ter-Har has the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. They made me feel stupid and helpless and completely destroyed my trust. They obfuscated the truth so they could take my money. I remember a nice old man I talked to in the lobby while I waited, and am enraged to think he might have been swindled as well.

Thank God for Mom and Pop Shops

My car was a mess. I called Hauser and Son, who sold me my car. I cried at them. I told them I was at my financial limit. They told me that it was impossible that I needed a new catalytic converter. They just had the car’s emissions tested. They told me to bring it in and that they wouldn’t charge me.

I brought Pepper back to them. They changed out an O2 sensor. A couple weeks later, the check engine light came on again, 420 code. I took it in again. They wanted to replace the second O2 sensor but couldn’t reach it without a car lift. So they gave me an O2 sensor and told me what to tell a mechanic.

I went back to the Meineke and asked them to replace the O2 sensor. They cautioned me that, in their experience, the 420 code was generally not associated with an O2 sensor but a catalytic converter. I thanked them for their transparency and asked them to replace the O2 sensor anyway. They did. It was screwed on so tight it took them 5 hours to get the old one off. They had to remove the whole exhaust. But being the classy gentlemen that they were, they only charged me for 2 hours because that was what they quoted. They told me if the light came on again, they would be happy to replace the catalytic converter, and they could do it for a few hundred bucks. Much cheaper than the Evil Sil-Ter-Har.

Everything was fine for a while. Then, a couple weeks later, again, the check engine light. 420. Fuck. I called Hauser and Son. They finally had to agree: the problem was probably the catalytic converter.

It’s All About the Gas

My aunt, mom, and cousin visited me during that time. My cousin mentioned offhand that when she had car issues, switching to a higher-quality gas fixed them. I didn’t have much hope, but I tried it anyway. At first, it didn’t seem to do anything, but a little while later, the check engine light went off on its own!

Four months after the problems started, they were finally solved. Originally quoted at a couple thousand dollars, the solution was a switch of gas. Since then, the check engine light stayed off, and the car runs smoother.

I learned from this experience that dealers are scumbags. While Meineke didn’t solve my problem either, they informed and educated me. I’m glad I called Hauser and Son because I could have just been angry at them for selling me a lemon, but they were happy to help me. Up and up, classy people.

I still haven’t gotten Pepper’s driver’s side mirror fixed. I used the insurance money for the other repairs instead and super-glued the pieces together. Thus concludes my exciting new car adventure, for now.