Why do I always seem to have issues....

It seems to be a constant thing with cars and me. My little green machine has been serviced twice already since the end of January. First time, right before my mini-vacay to Tybee Island. Antifreeze was leaking from the car while my son was driving it as we were heading home to get our beloved Saki who'd gotten out of the house the when my youngest son failed to close the door all the way and poor baby was beaten up pretty badly by another cat. (That's a whole other story of money flying out of my account unnecessarily.) That first little repair job where I specifically told the mechanic that it was leaking antifreeze and smoking badly as a result cost me well over $300 to have "fixed".

Second repair service was to fix this totally annoying squealing (which I fondly referred to as my car singing to me daily) which turned out to be the belt pulley. I took my green machine to a place I definitely trust to fix my car, which is what I should have done for the first repair service but with the conditions at the time, another place was closer and I didn't want my son driving a greater distance with the car doing what it was doing.

Now, the problem that was happening with the first repair service has returned....and while I'm on my way to work this morning. So I called the place (one I'll never in my life use ever again) because the service that they did was suppose to be under warranty. Ok, so if I initially bring it in because of it leaking antifreeze, why would you replace a thermostat and try to convince me that it had been running hot. I drive the car daily and it has NEVER run hot which I told the guy at the place I'll never give another penny to. He assured me that they'd fixed the leak and that all was well. NOT!!! So they want to now charge me to replace a hose that probably should have been replaced the FIRST time. Why would I give that place more of my hard earned money to fix something they should have checked in the beginning. If something is leaking, common sense should tell a so-called certified mechanic to check ALL possible reasons. They simply looked at the fact that it was smoking and assumed it was running hot which would be a thermostat issue. Supposedly they flushed my coolant system too, but upon my own inspection this morning, inside my coolant tank looks as grimy as it did the day I took it to them. Needless to say, I'm not happy because had they really checked my car out the proper way the 1st time, 21 days later, I wouldn't be having the EXACT same issue...and they expected me to let them work on it again and pay them. I may be a woman and I know they think women aren't smart about things pertaining to cars, but I'm not dumb. That place will never have a good reputation in my opinion. Then he wanted to argue with me that my car had been running hot. Okay, I drive it, the gauge inside the car has never shown that so how can you tell me it has when you've never driven it.

Next time, I stick with the repair place I know and trust...no matter how far they are. I'll take my chances on either driving it there (and going 5 mph to get it there) or breaking down and going through my insurance company to have it towed to them. It would be worth the claim hit on my policy to get my car fixed properly.

This is a total vent post...feel a teeny bit better now that I've gotten this off my chest. Now to figure out what to do and keep it within my budget.