grrrr, indeed. i'm preparing to head across the sand dunes (it often doubles as a scene for iraq or the sahara in the movies) to yuma. they have a little afternoon talk/news show that features "what's happening about the towns" and they called to ask if i wanted to come in and talk about jeopardy and chocolate.
i've been talking with one of their producers and they are also interested in exploring a "cooking with dani" feature as a regular/semi-regular paid segment.
if you're looking for a tv gig it helps to have a cute kid handy.
Last Sunday I was coming back from breakfast with one of my vet friends in Gresham (about 20 miles from home). When I was about 20 blocks from the house my car (1993 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon) started making the most God awful sounds and running rough. Fortunately I was just coming to a stop light so I turned the corner and stopped to investigate. Started it up and listened and it sounded like a major exhaust leak, maybe a blown manifold gasket or something. After further review, I found that the number 2 spark plug had unscrewed from the socket! There it was hanging off the spark plug wire. Walked home, got a spark plug wrench and put it back in, started right up and things were good. I had been on the freeway not 5 miles earlier, now that would have been interesting had it happened at 60 mph, don't want to think about it.
Replaced all 4 plugs the next day, stopped by my mechanic's shop yesterday to have them check my work and turns out I need all my front seals replaced, oh joy. But that's the way of the car, keep up on routine maintenance and they should last. This is my third Volvo wagon and I wouldn't have any other vehicle. 344,000 miles on my old 1980 245 (heater core sprang a leak, $800 to fix, more than the car was worth), 260,00 on a 1983 740 Turbo ( dumb move on my part totaled it).
For a heavy car (3,200 lbs) with a relatively small engine (the 240 was 2.1 liters,114 HP, the 740 and 940 have 2.3 liters, 162 HP), they get pretty good mileage. 18-19 in town and 25-28 on the highway. Better than some of these new "cross over" mid sized SUVs. More interior room and can haul more than those things too.
Volvo = "I roll"
Jesse - I don't know what kind of car you have, but a few do have the oil filter mounted in a way that blocks access to other components, including the starter mounting bolts.
No working mechanic I know of would tack on something like an oil change to a starter replacement if they can avoid it. It's a pain in the ass, most wrenches feel oil changes are beneath them, and the time spent on an oil change could be more profitably invested on another, more lucrative job.
Here's how you're going to get ripped off: Every shop I know of has a policy for a minimum of one hour labor for any repair work. If I don't have to remove stuff to get to it, I can change your starter in no more than 25 minutes from the time it rolls into my bay. If I know the car well I can do it in fifteen minutes or less.
Adding an oil change, which may put $5 in my pocket and will take another fifteen minutes to do, is a waste of my time.
I have no problem with a one-hour minimum.
People have to eat. It's a fair charge in my view.
Thanks for your comments.
For those who care -- already questioning by email -- yes... I did cancel and reschedule today's hair appointment. Goodyear said they couldn't be sure they'd have me out in time.
I'm going to catch a little sleep. Nighty-night.
bahh...I got a early 92 sunbird to 250k...early 90's pontiac sunbird (disposable car from a company not known for reliable cars).
sure by the end I was burning 1 qurt f oil a week, but the damm thing would not die.
Now I am stuck in minivan land (4 kids...cant fit in anything else short of a big SUV....not likeign that gas milage).
Car I loved: 86 Peugeot 505 Turbo-diesel 4-dr sedan. That thing was a tank - gross vehicle weight was 5600lbs, with a couple hundred lbs of a Chevy Suburban.
And it got 35 mpg.
While towing a 19' wooden boat - at 65-70mph.
The oil filter was inverted and above the engine so it drained when the engine was off - open the hood, and it was right there next to the brake master cylinder.
I got it with 200K, put another 100K before the odometer died, and roughly another 100K before something in the timing went south and it would only idle.
I miss the smoke-cloud-at-will - it was really handy for tailgaters.
Jesse, hon.... I can tell you it is BEST to get your hair done PRIOR to any car fixit encounter. That and a nice v-neck sweater.... oh, wait.... nemmind. Well, the hair thing helps regardless. Jes sayin' 
I got a trip next week too.... a driving trip..... and there's this clunk. It seems to be related to the 4WD though. I just won't take it 4wheeling on beach I guess 
Safe travels to all.
Oh my.....had a 91 Legend and that car smoked....holy moly it was a great ride....had to move on when the kids got too big for the back seat. (hes's touching me, no!! she's touching me....I'm gonna draw a line down the middle of the seat and whoever crosses it is in BIG trouble)....Plus it was a two door and getting kids in and out of the backseat became harder and harder. Man. I'd love to have that car now though.
I recently sold my 1990 Subaru Legacy wagon with 257,000 miles on it. It was still passing smog inspection like it was new, but the transmission needed serious work, and it was more than the car was worth. Guy across the street bought it and bartered with a friend of his for the transmission work.
Your story reminded me of the car we had when I was a little kid. It was a 1941 Hudson. When its brakes went out and it wasn't worth fixing, my father drove it, very carefully, to the junkyard and drove it into a pile of junk to stop it. Must have been mid to late fifties, since I remember the car.
I had a '91 Acura Integra LS that was Simply. The. Best. Car. Ever. I put about 60K on it and then gave it to my ex as part of our settlement. He drove it for another decade. And he's hell on cars, so that's saying something.
Evan's dad had a Legend -- an '87, I think. (Actually, Evan's dad never drove it: he was hemiplegic and aphasic and barely capable of feeding himself after that stroke in '86. But he had attendants who took him around on errands and out to the beach in that car, his wheelchair strapped to the back bumper.)
When Evan's dad died, we gave it to my dad, whose pickup had just died. My dad damn near cried. Said it was the best gift anybody'd ever given him. It outran him, too: he died in '02, the Legend still in his carport.
I hear Subarus are like that, too. Volvos, of course, used to be -- but people tell me they're not anywhere near the same since Ford bought a majority stake in the company.
We just got back from a 3,000-mile road trip in our '00 Ford Explorer. It's got about 115,000 miles on it now. We don't drive it much since we got the Prius -- only when there's snow on the ground (two feet of it now) or when we need to haul stuff like garden plants or trash. I really thought we'd never take a road trip in it again -- but with the price of gas down, it was about 30% cheaper to drive it to California (even including three days' worth of gas and motels) than it was to fly four people round-trip on Southwest and board a dog for two weeks.
The Explorer's windows stick, and the latch on the back gate broke while we were on the road, and it's got that funky old-truck smell that's probably due to a tiny tranny leak (I keep looking for spots in the driveway, but there aren't any yet). But the damned thing won't die, and it's now worth far more to us -- paid off and running -- than its blue book value. Still not bad looking, either. Lot of life left in the old thing: makes no sense at all to get rid of it.
Mitsubishi what? I have a Galant that I've had for a couple years now. Too early to speak as to repairs, but it is the best, most comfortable, most pleasant to drive car I've ever owned. Only thing I don't like is that Mitsubishi built the Zero (fighter plane) during WW2.
Sara: that funky old truck smell is the combination of every funky thing that's ever been in the truck... not the tranny. My truck (02 Tacoma) has it too, and it's got a manual transmission. Every Honda product I have owned or worked with has been wonderfully reliable and for the most part hassle-free -- modulo hungry rats and stupid driving, of course.
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nice blog
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