"I Been Drivin' All Night, My Hands Wet On The Wheel"

At long last, my car is fixed!!!  God bless the gentleman who worked on it.  He did a damn fine job, too.  For a vehicle that's going on 10 years old, it runs like it's almost new.  It's purring like a kitten and right now, I am too.


I'm so glad I didn't go with the dealer's garage.  For the leaky fuel gasket alone they were going to gouge me for over $500.  The other place only charged $368.  The guy went over my car with a fine tooth comb.  Took it in at 9 a.m. yesterday and didn't get it back til around 5 p.m.  He did a ton:  Fuel intake gasket replaced, fuel injector cleaned out, power steering flushed, a bunch of other stuff (I'll have to check the invoice), checked why the engine coolant light was on and fixed whatever the problem is, then changed the oil and replaced the air filter.  The dealer missed a number of issues that this guy found and the jobs that needed doing were going to cost a minimum of $8-900.  I got everything for $678.  That's still pretty high but I k now I saved at least $150-200, if not more.  I'm pleased.  I plan to go there for tires.

So, for the first time in MONTHS, I went for a nice, long, leisurely drive last night.  It was so nice to be able to idle at red lights without the car shuddering like a paint shaker (thanks, crappy fuel injector) or squealing horribly (I'm talking about you, icky power steering).  It was also nice not to have the instrument panel not lit up like the Vegas Strip (Nobody likes seeing "Service Engine Soon" or the Engine Coolant light staring them in the face). I just put some good music on and let my baby do its thing.  I made sure to get up extra early so I could get a coffee, go to the lake and see the sun come up.  Mother Nature did not disappoint.


Tonight, I hope to go down to the Paine Art Center in Oshkosh and attend a lecture on the current exhibit.  If I don't make it tonight, there'll be a repeat performance next Friday afternoon.  


I feel like I can finally start living and I'm thrilled!