Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Car Woes

Amy has been borrowing my van to get to work since her car broke a few weeks ago. She's been really good about coordinating her work schedule with driving the other kids into Kalamazoo for robotics and picking up items from the grocery store. Today, she was dropping off some packages for me at the post office on her way into work.

After mailing the packages, she returned to the van and started the engine. When the van was put into gear a horrible, sound and severe vehicle shaking began. She walked back to our house and asked me if some of us could walk back to the van to push it into a legal parking spot.

Our new dishwasher was being delivered and it was necessary for an adult to be in the home when the delivery truck arrived. So, Amy was left at home with Paige and Allie, while Madelyn, Steve, Joe, and I walked to the post office. I started the van and decided that we shouldn't try to get it home. We could potentially do a lot of damage to the transmission. Steve took the driver's seat, while Joe and I pushed. Madelyn's job was to keep postal customers out of the parking space we wanted to use for the van.

It took quite a bit of back and forth pushing, while Steve adjusted the van into the parking spot. I called Mike and explained what was going on and asked him where he wanted the van towed. We're supposed to get 20 inches of snow in the next 24 hours and I don't want to pay impound fees or have to dig it out before we can get it towed.

While I was talking to Mike, Amy called the delivery guys were at the house and she wanted to check model numbers with the receipt/delivery papers which were in my purse. I left Steve to get our license plate number on the van for towing and jogged back to the house as the snow began to fall.

The van is now safely in our driveway. The dishwasher is in the kitchen waiting to be hooked up this evening. Mike got some quotes on replacing the transmission....$3500. Yikes. We're going to go van shopping tomorrow (weather permitting) and see if we want to purchase something different or spend the money on repairs.

I'm so thankful that the van didn't drive on the drive to Kalamazoo this evening or even worse on Amy's way home in the blizzard late tonight. It's a little inconvenient and a bit of a financial muddle, but everyone is safe and not stranded.

1 comment:

Barb the Evil Genius said...

This is why I'm glad that we bought our current car new. We only have one vehicle at the moment, so we really can't afford a breakdown, and I know from experience that maintaining an older vehicle can cost almost as much as a loan payment.