Car Woes

Cars have not been our friend this summer. Here's the run down:

Beginning of May: Landon's Truck won't start. If we charge it up it will start, but only sometimes. The motor is going out anyways, you can't go over 55 MPH, so with the news of his new job in Salt Lake and the commute we know he will need to make we decide to buy a new car for him.

Middle of May: After weeks of checking in with our friend who owns a used car lot and having several cars fall through on us we end up with a 2000 Mazda 626. Not a bad car, but not the car we would have really wanted. Landon has to be in Salt Lake to start his new job in 3 days, so we are taking what we can get.

Middle of June: Above mentioned Mazda begins having issues starting. It usually will start, but you sometimes have to wiggle some stuff around. Awesome! We think its electrical because we know that there are electrical issues with the car. But, it keeps working so for now in the middle of the move, we keep driving it.

Beginning of July: On his way home from work one day the Mazda overheats and dies on Landon. Luckily, as he pulls over to the side of the freeway exit so does a very nice man in a truck who offers him a tow home. We call on the friendly neighbor, Jared, who is a mechanic to come over and take a look and give us an assessment. After looking it over he gives us a somewhat positive, but really gloomy outlook on the car. It could just be head gaskets that need to be replaced. Let's hope for that.

Middle of July: We are finally able to get the Mazda into a mechanics shop. (The one that got recommended to us in Tooele is family owned and they all went on vacation together the weekend that the car died.) It takes them two days to even get the car looked at and come back with the prognosis that it needs a whole new motor. $2400. Keep in mind that we only bought the car for $3200. Luckily we have the money left over from the sale of the house to cover the cost, but there goes our sprinkler system and lawn.

The end of the week that we find out about the new motor is Landon's family reunion in Bear Lake. He drives me and the kids up on Wednesday, early, in the van and then has to come back to SLC to work the rest of the week. He will join us on Saturday night. On Friday night he is able to pick up the Mazda from the mechanics.

Saturday night of Reunion: Landon gets off of work and heads for Bear Lake. In Evanston, half way between Salt Lake and Bear Lake he gets very tired and pulls over for a little nap. Upon awaking, the van won't start. He tries several times, but to no avail. He calls up to Bear Lake where his Dad is dispatched to go pick him up and maybe tow the van. When Marty gets there they decide to tow the van to a mechanics shop in Evanston and then return to Bear Lake.

Sunday Morning: Landon and Marty head back to Evanston to try to work on the van and see if they can't get it working. They replace the fuel filter, but no luck. They call around to find a fuel pump but the closest place that has one available is Ogden. They drive to Ogden, pay $250 for the fuel pump (not to mention all the other little things they have to buy to get it fixed) and drive back to Evanston. They drop the fuel tank change the fuel pump. Nothing. They drop the tank again, check the mechanical wiring. Nothing. As they are frustrated and deciding to leave for the day the owner of the mechanics shop pulls up, asks what they have done, looks at a couple of things and pulls the wiring harness for the fuel pump. One end is fried. That's right, the fuel pump was fine all along, it was just the wiring harness that had gone bad. The mechanic will have to order one from the manufacturer and will hopefully have the car done for us on Wednesday.

Sunday Evening: Landon and I are stranded in Bear Lake with no car and all of our things. His parents who were supposed to have left earlier that morning decide that Diane will drive our entire little family home and then drive back to Bear Lake that night. We pack up our things and leave Bear Lake at 10 p.m. We arrive in Tooele at 1:15 a.m. unpack the truck and Diane turns around and heads back to Bear Lake. (I must take the time right now to say how incredibly grateful we are to have parents who were willing to sacrifice so much and help us out.)

Thursday: We get news that the van is fixed and ready to be picked up in Evanston. We make plans to go there after Landon gets off of work that night. At lunch time, Landon goes out to the Mazda to go pick up some lunch and the car will not start. No amount of wiggling, jiggling, and cursing will make it. We are now stranded in Tooele and Salt Lake with no working car, except the one in Evanston. This time we have no parents to help us. I go next door to the wonderful, amazing neighbors and ask them for suggestions on people in the ward who might be willing to help drive Landon up to Evanston that night to get our van. My neighbor calls her husband, gets permission to leave immediately and says she will drive me and the kids to Evanston to get our van. We load me, my neighbor Adrienne, my three children and her three children into Adrienne's suburban and make the flying trip to Evanston to pick up the van. She follows me back to Tooele to make sure that nothing else blows up.

Friday & Saturday: We are able to get the Mazda towed from Landon's work and with our insurance coverage only ends up costing us $10. We call up our friend who sold us the car and explain all that has gone on. He says he will help us find cheaper parts for the car when we figure out what it is that has gone wrong.

Monday: Landon clears a spot in the garage so that he can pull the car in to look at it. He gets me to come help steer the car while he tries to push it up our driveway (which is very steep.) I decide to just try to start the car before we begin the push and it turns right over. I drive it into the garage with Landon very aggravated standing by. We have to wait a couple of hours before the car will not start again, he tries the starter and we decide that is the part we need.

Tuesday: We call up our friend, the car dealer, and he begins trying to find us the part somewhere in Salt Lake near Landon's work. We are able to pick up the starter that evening and Landon gets it installed that night. So, far, the car has been running. It still has some electrical issues that we are not quite sure what to do about. But, we have been happy to have 5 days now in the last month where both of our cars have been working.

I hate transportation!