Our Most Recent Car Saga

For the last four or so months, something has been wrong with my car. It's really hard to describe what is wrong, just that there's this kinda sporadic jerking/jolting feeling, the idle is rough- almost like the car could stall out at any moment- and the exhaust has had a strong gas smell. I told Branden about these things but he really didn't experience them for himself until he started driving my car.

His first guess was that it had something to do with fuel- pump, filter, etc. So we started with the cheapest and fastest fix: fuel injector cleaner. No luck. Replacing the spark plugs helped a little but still didn't fix the problem. Next he replaced the fuel filter and once again things improved a little. The last, and most expensive, repair Branden took on was replacing the fuel pump. This time there was hardly any difference and Branden felt it was time to take it to a pro. His new guess was specifically the catalytic converter.

Before I go any further, I'd like to take the time to point out how nice it is to have Branden around. Not only is he just handy in general, he's not afraid to look in the book or look it up online and see if he can do something he's never done before. Most importantly, he knows when to admit that he's in over his head and he can't do it himself. I really do appreciate all that he's done to keep this car running until we can afford another one. I also have to admit that I maybe rely on him a little more than I should at times BECAUSE I know he's such a capable guy. Sometimes this makes him lose patience with me because I want him to do things I can do myself... This is not one of those things/times, though. I am so grateful to have him in my life.

Monday night after Branden got off work we dropped the car and a key at the Meineke near our apt. so they could look at it first thing Tuesday morning. Yesterday we woke up to Branden's phone ringing and the news that, yes, it was indeed the catalytic converter AND the flex pipe that ran from the engine to the converter. They wanted $390 to fix it... So much for saving more money for the wedding. :S We did some calling around- including calling a different Meineke who quoted $50 less!- and chose the muffler shop who left Branden with the best feeling. (We don't trust the Meineke near our house for anything more than an oil change since they tried to convince me that my less-than-one-year-old radiator had gone bad and needed to be replaced. In fact, we wouldn't have taken the car there AT ALL given a better choice.)

We got dressed and ready for work, drove the car over to the shop and car pooled to work- something that can only happen on the one night a week that I close the bakery. When the car was finished, they left Branden a voice mail and he was able to call in his debit card number. Conveniently- and adding much to our trust of this shop- they charged us EXACTLY what they quoted and didn't try to up-sell. After we were both off work, we picked up the car and Branden drove it home... And he says something is still wrong. Things have improved DRAMATICALLY but something's still not quite right. *sighs* Back to the drawing board.

The car is 20 years old and I haven't driven it yet but maybe the thing that isn't right is just old car syndrome??? You know the one: things shake and rattle because they're old and not because anything's really broken. One can always hope.