I hate car and computer problems. Mine has a weird broken censor that either always registers too much or too little gas, It really freaked me out once when I put 20.00 in the tank and it was registering no gas, It also burns oil, Unfortunately, with the the way things are going I am probably going to try to have to hold onto this vehicle for at least another six months, Maybe next year I can sell my house and have enough left over to get a vehicle...that would be cool, or you and I will get wonderful new jobs and be able to buy one outright!!

I am thinking I am going to lose my job. Waiting for the rain to let up so I can try to work on it. I need it running by 3am.

Dadda,

How did it go? We are all worried about you.

My car is still broken. Have to get a ride to the town 20 miles for rental car so I can go to salvage yard. I am tired and just want to sleep. Borrowed truck to do work. So much running around because of this. And always late because of it. Starting to hate them ... he just ignores court orders and judgments and I suffer consequences of it all.

I'm sorry to hear that your car is still giving you trouble Dadda. I've been
there before and I know what an unbelievable time sink it is. It's so hard
to get around without a car. How I wish we had more decent public t
ransportation, subsidized cheap rentals.

This might be a long shot, but do you think telling some church
congregations of your plight might help? Someone might have a
decent car they are no longer using they may be willing to either
give you or sell at a very lowered price. Also, retirement communities
are great places to find deals. The retirement community where my
father lives has a lot of residents who barely drive and often their
children will want to sell quickly when their parents give up driving

Hang in there Dadda--wishing you all the best.

Thanks, Betty. I am going to bed; sore, tired and covered with little thorns. I was not able to get the part, as it got hung up on something below ... 4 hours of agony for nothing ... I will never understand "fishing" that's for sure. I asked for help but my part was not "worthy enough" apparently .. and to top it off, they locked me in there! I had to call police to get out. I'm zonked. Every weekend the same lately. A couple of my daughter's male friends said they will help me ... not til Monday, at least though.

I have thought of getting a moped ... keeping my eyes open for inexpensive car. Church .... they always want me to "go away" as I don't follow the script anymore and call them on their responsibilities ... I contacted the state Methodist Assoc. last week and received reply, in regard to "why a member of their church is financing and endorsing bullying and local leader non-responsive". My car has 190,000 and is the car I had to buy 11 years ago because N took me to Court claiming I "wasn't visiting the children" ... and of course, he had my car, which made it hard to impossible ... I bought the car brand new because the engine in the other had blown up ... I never bought a new car and probably, never again. But ironically, it was purchased (then) to keep from having the same problem come up and him make issues ... at least it served it's purpose fairly well in younger days ... I'm actually amazed that an American car now has almost as many miles as my Toyotas did (Toyotas = less breakdowns, especially major, overall).

I'm sore and zonked ... daughter took me to pick up rental ... $10/day on weekends, not bad, just a lot of figuring out how to get there, back, etc. Never again will I willingly live in BFE ...

Sorry to hear about your car. Hang in there.

Most days I wish I had a car, a car always represented freedom too me, to be able to go anywhere at any time. Such a great convenience.... until it's not. Is there anyway you can take public transportation? I know this doesn't fix your car issues and they sound plentiful. I can't remember if you live in a City or not. Hang in there dadda, thinking of you and praying that these issues are resolved and fast. xxxx

The church idea is not entirely bad. I don't think most churches expect a person to be a member to give a helping hand...and they have bulletins to put things in. "Single Mom is looking for relaible car without a big price tag. If you have one or know of one call (your number)

I got my little car for under $3000 and it was a super car. (My ex trashed my first one) I kept haunting the used car lots and taking low priced cars for test drives. Most of them were clonkers but this little Tempo purred like a kitty. I went to the local Credit Union and asked for a loan. The loans offficer came for a test drive with me and then gave me the loan with a very small down payment. The car ran faithfully for the next 10 years, and aside from new tires never needed repairs until I sold it to get a van..... As for the loans officer...I still have him and he is still "running faithfully".

Wow I thought I had answered on here but I guess I did not. I spent some time today trying to locate a cable in auto parts stores ... no luck they are all special order and universal fit, meaning I might have to screw around modifying them to get them to work. But I did find a salvage yard that has 30 acres of cars and I know why the part I almost got probably got hung up. So tomorrow will try again and hopefully better luck. Right now I have little cash for another car but IF I can get mine running and keep it that way, this has to be one of the more frustrating situations in life for a while. I have been down before and things eventually looked up ... I am just tired ... everyone needs a breather from trouble .... a chance to blow off some steam and have some normal, even "fun" experiences. And that has been sorely lacking for a while for me ...
Kassandra Dee, I am in the middle of the "boonies". The city to me represents opportunity and freedom, probably even more so as I found REAL friends there in past and around here, I have some people who will come through, but I also hate to always be asking for help. Walking or biking or buses not always pleasant, but at least can get from point A to B fairly reliably. I am just not convinced I could bike 20 miles to a job on a regular basis, especially in the winter. The Amish around here ride bikes through the snow, but I will admit, I'm not that tough!!

Hopefully, better luck tomorrow as I will be more prepared and maybe it will take a lot less time! Thank you all for kind thoughts and suggestions. I think I may approach church in terms of some of future (known) needs ... I doubt I will be able to move all my things solo, for example, no matter how much gumption I may have! So I will try to be thinking some of this stuff through.

Thanks, I have a Haynes manual ... got it a long time ago, but yes, it is invaluable for figuring stuff out. There is a lot of good troubleshooting in the front section. And with youtube, I can watch the procedure and there are also a lot of good car forums.

I haven't replaced the belt because the pulley has a bad part and I think the spring inside the tensioner, too. There was a car yesterday with one in fairly accessible position, so I might look up removal procedure and try to get it tomorrow, too. It is no fun driving without power steering, but at least it is "doable".

Maybe when things settle down, I can write some sort of encouraging guide about some of what I've learned for others in tight spots and offer to do some volunteer consulting ... knowing that "hopeless" feeling and being able to make a positive difference in lifting it with someone else would be worthwhile, I think!