Car Problems Part III - Will it Never End?

It's Sunday morning and I'm waiting for the phone call from Canadian Tire to let me know my car is ready to pick up. The person at the service desk I talked to the day before said it should be ready by 10:00 or 11:00 a.m.

Well, 10:00 or 11:00 has come and gone and no phone call. I wait until around 1:00 p.m. and give them a call. The fellow who answers the phone tells me my car is ready. (Thanks for the phone call to let me know when to pick it up!)

Now I've already missed church in the morning, but I figure if I can walk over to Canadian Tire quick enough I should have enough time to get to the boarding home by around 2:30 p.m. It's our day to volunteer there.

It's a wet, slushy day. Instead of wearing my boots I sacrifice wetness protection for speed and wear my running shoes. I get to Laird and Eglinton pretty quickly. But, no one has bothered to shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes along the way so my feet are quite wet.

I go to the Service Department and plunk down my credit card for the $177.40 bill. The battery is only around $110, but they charge about $50 for installation. Even though I believe it's easy to install I don't want to take a chance of anything going wrong and pay for them to do it.

My car starts easily enough with the new battery. But, I find when I slow down for red lights my car starts to shudder, the idle speed drops to near zero. At first I wonder if it's because there's some humidity in the air and that might be affecting the engine.

It's not long after I realize it's the same problem I had before where my engine just dies whenever I slow down and/or stop. I can't believe this is happening to me. Again. Why? Why, why, why? Every day, another problem.

On my way home I weigh my options. My first stop, though, is the Shell gas station at Eglinton and Bayview. My car has been running on fumes for the past few days. But I was too scared to stop for gas because I worried I wouldn't be able to start it again because of the weak battery.

After filling up I had to think about step number 2. I returned to my condo and parked on level 1 and got out of my car to debate my options. The only solution I could come up with was to take my car straight to the dealership (Courtesy Chevrolet) right away and leave it there.

I checked an old receipt at home and saw that they were closed Sundays. Greaaat. Today was the only day I could go. I would just leave the car in their service lot with a note on the windshield. I also left them a phone message stating the problem.

I took the TTC home. I hope I don't have to rely on it too much over the next few days. My parents offered to let me stay over at their place and said they would drop me off at work in the morning which is helpful. They live close by. I just have to round up all my stuff and bring it over there tonight.

All these problems with my car make me want to drive it to a cliff and push it over. Sigh.

Dead Battery - Part II

After the dead battery debacle at my sister's place I decided I would go to Canadian Tire to replace the battery on Saturday when the weather warmed up. I didn't want to take a chance in going out when it was too cold and getting stuck again.

I checked the prices and availability of batteries that would fit my car on Canadian Tire's website. They had some starting at around $110 at the Laird and Eglinton location which was closest to me. I was planning to go there and buy one and have them install it. I figured it would be relatively simple to install and shouldn't cost much more.

I went down to my car which was in the parking garage early Saturday afternoon. Maybe around 1:00 p.m. To my disappointment my car wouldn't start. Again.

Instead of calling CAA to make an appointment I thought I'd try doing it online because I thought it might be faster. Well, it probably wasn't. I had to input so much information that it actually took a fair amount of time.

I typed in my location, my year, make and model of car. Instead of requesting a boost I thought I'd purchase a battery from them. My father had done that in the past and was charged about $150 in total. Even though I thought it would cost more to go with CAA I figured it would be easiest. Just have them come and change the battery and get it over with.

After I had entered all the relevant information I was notified that my wait would be 300 minutes (or 5 hours). Nothing left to do but wait. Thankfully Naomi and Markus decided to have lunch at Echo and invited me along. I actually had had a hankering for sushi and was looking to go. So that would help me kill the time.

Lunch was good. I didn't overeat like I sometimes do. I believe I got back shortly after 3:00. To my surprise the CAA driver called to say he was at my condo not long after. We went down to my car and he proceeded to assess the battery. I'm not sure what he was doing.

He confirmed I needed a new one, which I already new. He told me it would be $155 for the battery and to have it installed which was fine with me. He then checked the back of his truck which had quite a few different batteries then discovered he didn't have one that would fit my car. So, after all that, he gave me a boost and I drove over to Canadian Tire.

But, of course, now it was late in the day and as I feared Canadian Tire wouldn't be able to work on my car today and I would have to return next morning. On top of that I found the battery was $110 which was the same price as stated online. But, to have it installed would cost around $50 more. I believe the total price (I'm assuming after tax) would be $177. More than CAA and more trouble.

You would have figured that since I told them my year, make and model CAA would have sent someone with a battery that would have actually fit my car. I'm not too happy about that.

Deep Freeze = Dead Battery

Not my photo.

Okay, I have to admit it... it probably was my fault. I probably should have replaced my car battery sooner, but I didn't. My car wasn't starting cleanly, but it was still starting. That was until the recent deep freeze we had here in Toronto.

The first sign of trouble was when I was leaving work on Thursday. My car had been sitting outside in the cold all day. The engine barely turned over. I thought to myself, should I head home (to my warm condo garage) or should I go over to my sister's place for dinner like I promised my mother. I made the wrong decision and went over to my sister's house.

The temperature that evening dropped even more. After hanging out at my sister's for a few hours I decided to leave. My car had other ideas.

I called my parents who live nearby and my dad came over with the jumper cables to try and give my car a boost. If the battery was dead I was sure it would work.

We had to rearrange my car on the driveway so it would be face to face with my father's car which we were going to use to charge mine. I put mine in neutral and pushed it a few feet so my father could pass by and turn his car around.

After we were both positioned properly we hooked the booster cables up and I cranked the ignition. Nothing. It was the same as before. It was like we didn't even hook the cables up. I was dumbfounded. What could it be?

We struggled mightily to push my car out onto the street so my dad could leave to go home. It was freezing cold out and really slippery. Hard to get traction with your boots. It made pushing that much harder.

I called CAA next. It was about 10:00 p.m. by now. According to the news they had been inundated with calls due to the weather. I was put on hold for a long time.

When I finally got through I told the operator the problem. I mentioned it was probably the battery, but I thought it also could be something else. So I requested a tow truck instead of the guy who just comes to charge batteries.

I also had to think about where to take my car if it needed to be towed. The closest mechanic I know is by Victoria Park and Eglinton, close to where I work. It's the place my boss takes the work delivery vehicles to get serviced.

But, I know many places can't do diagnostics on my particular vehicle if that's what it needs. If that were the case I would need to get towed to Courtesy Chevrolet on the Queensway near Sherway Gardens. It's much further, by they're the only place that has the particular software to do an engine check for my car.

Anyway the CAA operator told me I could expect the tow truck driver to come by by 1:30 a.m. (at the latest I assumed).

Next I called my parents. I asked my dad if I could borrow the car in case I did need the tow to the mechanic's. I would need a way to get back home late at night. I said to leave the car key by the door and I would pick them up if needed. Then I settled down with a book at my sister's place for the wait.

Well, 1:30 a.m. came and went. So did 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. I knew they were busy and that they were prioritizing calls for people who were stuck outside in the bitter cold first. I guess they knew I was waiting inside so I was probably bumped down on the list.

Now I was bunked on the narrow sofa in my sister's living room. I had put the book away long ago and was trying to catch some Zzzz's. I had put my cell phone which was at hand ready for the call on the coffee table and decided I should try to get some sleep. I thought they had forgotten about me and decided I would call them back in the morning. It would be better then because the garage would actually be open and I wouldn't have to leave my car there and come back again. And public transit would be running if I needed to get back home.

To my surprise I got a call at around 5:15 a.m. (I'm guessing... I was still a bit groggy when I answered). I believe it was an automated message from CAA saying they were sorry about the delay and that the tow truck driver would be around in 45. I was to be ready for his arrival at that time with my CAA membership card.

I think the driver arrived about 6:00 a.m. He hooked up his booster cables and I tried the engine. Again, nothing. I was so disappointed. But, I wasn't totally unprepared for that result. After a less than restful night I thought it would be a few more hours before I'd be able to return home to sleep.

The driver told me to go wait inside my sister's place for 10 minutes. He wanted to give the battery some more time to recharge. So I went inside fully expecting to come out 10 minutes later and drive to the mechanic's.

When I reemerged 10 minutes later I was totally shocked to see exhaust fumes coming out of the back of my car. The tow truck driver had managed to resurrect it. I was so happy.

I gave him a wave as he drove off and, after a minute or two of letting my car warm up, I left for home as well.

Next stop Canadian Tire for a new battery.