My Poor Car!

The Impala is wounded!

Of late it’s taken Schwartzeneggarian might to turn the steering wheel 90 degrees. That and that it sounds like a 757 pressurizing for take-off whenever I accelerate above 20 mph. The faint odor of burning graces the interior after twenty or so minutes of driving. So, also a bit overdue for an oil change, I take it to the dealer.

Diagnosis:

Needs a power steering pump, power steering rack, and an alignment.

Pricetag:

$2000 and change.

Now, we took out an Extended Warranty on the Impala when we purchased the car at a discount from my wife’s company. It ran good for a year. Then, the tires balded. Then, two coolant leaks three months apart. Throw in regular maintenance plus a four-wheel brake job, and the auto repair dollars are starting to cut into my lavish lifestyle.

The goal was to look into buying a cheap little Japanese car (often built in the U.S. of A.) to solely get me back and forth to work. The big Honda Pilot we bought two months ago takes care of family trips and whatnot. So, if we could get rid of the Impala, that’d get rid of a car payment and as a bonus we’d probably save money on gas as it does consume about $180 a month in petrol.

But, after speaking with two separate salesmen on two separate occasions, it was recommended that we keep it. One, I still owe on it more than they could sell it for if I traded it in. There’s the rub. And two, I still had that golden Extended Warranty for another two or three years to keep it up and running.

Problem is, as my Service Advisor told me with a very, very grave expression on her face, we don’t know if a power steering pump and rack is covered. Hmmm. She actually said, “Hmmmm,” as she looked as if weighing whether or not to pull the plug on a comatose family member while being forced to solve a differential equation at gunpoint.

Monday I should know whether my beloved car will have an extended lifespan or if I’ll be sitting in a sales cubicle working the numbers on a 2007 Honda Civic with 110,000 miles on the odometer.

This problematic power steering prognosis could be Nature’s way of saying, “Go for it, dude!”

Will keep you updated ...