Super Major Service

So I took the Corolla (the one I bought from some dude on craigslist) in for some diagnostics this morning. I’m taking its failure to start on Thanksgiving as a bad sign and figured I better get it checked out before I end up getting stranded somewhere. Running into issues with this car is really no surprise – after all, you really do “get what you pay for” and $750 is pretty cheap for a car. It’s got over 160k miles on it and that is, by far, more miles than I have ever put on a car. Heck, I’ll bet that if I added up all the miles I’ve put on all the cars I’ve owned that I would still total less than 160k. Hmm, I guess those Toyotas really do run forever…

So I basically got ripped off – but I really don’t care. They charged me a bit over $200 to replace the battery (which it most definitely needed) and fuel filter. I probably didn’t need to replace the fuel filter, but Chris (my new roommate) seemed to be rather adamant about it being a possible issue and I was informed that the fuel filter on the car appeared to be the original. I guess switching it out after 160k miles couldn’t hurt … oh well, Chris’ll be happy…

The mechanic working on the car did actually do a thorough inspection and came up with a “laundry list” of things that should be done. It was rather comical … the guy was telling me that I needed what they referred to as their “Super Major Service” which included a full tune-up changing the wires and plugs; a new timing belt and water pump (the current one is apparently leaking); a new radiator, thermostat and hoses including a coolant flush as well as replacing the transmission pan gasket and filter; etcetera, etcetera…. The funny part was that he quickly realized (probably from the look on my face) that I wasn’t going to be purchasing his “Super Major Service” and opted out of even attempting to make the sale. It was then that he mentioned overhearing me say I picked up the car for a few hundred bucks. I’m pretty sure he realized that all I was trying to do was keep the car running for a bit longer and had no intention of throwing any more money than I needed to at it. He suggested I keep an eye on the coolant and I might be able to get another year out of her…

One thing I did notice is the car seems to be producing far less clanking noises from the rear now. Perhaps, during the detailed inspection, something loose got tightened a bit…? Whatever the case, it seems quite a bit more solid now – I guess that’s good…

Of course the main repair work that needs to be done on this car is the removal of that “I ♥ LA DERBY DOLLS” bumper sticker and scraping off the butterfly over the rear window brake-light. I think I’ll get started on that after work today… I mean sure, I have nothing against the L.A. Derby Dolls (hell, I didn’t even know who they were until checking the Internet) however stating to the world that I “♥” them is a bit misleading. As for the butterfly – now that’s just gay…

I do need to name the Corolla; however the right name just hasn’t come to me yet. If you’ve read my earlier posts, I’m sure you remember me talking about my former cars – Shannon and Christine – as well as my two current automobiles in Colorado – Precious and Betsy… I need a name that fits for the Corolla – something old, a bit beat-up, well traveled, used and tiny that hints at her awe-inspiring power (try not to miss the sarcasm there…). Something like Esther, Gertrude or Blanche, perhaps … they just don’t seem to pull off the tininess aspect well enough… Feel free to toss me some suggestions…

The good news is that I now officially own the aforementioned, yet-unnamed vehicle. I finally received some mail yesterday. I had to pick it up at my old apartment since the US Postal Service seems to be having rather pronounced difficulty with the forwarding of already-forwarded mail situation that I now find myself having to deal with (this is now “supposed” to have been fixed – I guess we’ll see…) and included in the bundle was the title with my name printed as the owner. Strangely enough, it’s a California title. I was thinking that I would be receiving a title from the state of Colorado (as that’s what I was told at the DMV here in California) although the document received is most definitely a California Title of Ownership – a California Title of Ownership that has a Longmont, Colorado address for the primary owner – go figure… That just seems strange to me…

I suppose that means if I were to sell the car prior to its current registration expiring that I wouldn’t even have to go through the hassle of registering it under my name in Colorado (something I am planning on doing during my Christmas trip back home); although that seems unlikely. The current registration is valid through February of next year. My initial contract out here should be completed sometime in the second half of January and I am currently scheduled to be flying home on February 1st but, from the way things currently appear, there is a high probability that the contract will be extended and I may be flying back out to California as quickly as the 3rd or 4th of February. If the contract is extended, I’m going to need the car. Of course, being that I was able to obtain a California title with my Colorado address, I am now beginning to think that I might just be able to renew the registration for the vehicle here in California. Is anyone out there familiar with vehicle registration and primary residence laws? Don’t you need to be living in the state that you register your vehicle in…?

Something tells me that you might be hearing more about this car in the future … probably not in a “good” way… Or is my pessimism getting the better of me once again? You never know … perhaps that new fuel filter was just what the doctor ordered…

bis später,

Coriolis