Hoop D I think my car may have officially attaine…
admin January 26th, 2007
Hoop D
I think my car may have officially attained “hooptie” status this week. 
Sunday evening the ‘check engine’ light went on while TBS and I were driving through one of the less desirable parts of the city (in freezing rain). Since I killed my last car by driving it when I shouldn’t, I decided to pull off the freeway and make sure the fluids were OK (which they were).
After chanting Tim F’s “Mother Cabrini” rhyme a few times and speculating about what other saints would be good to invoke, we got back home and I took the car to the shop first thing in the morning. As I’d suspected, it was the same code I’ve had a couple of times before: apparently the catalysts are on their way out. However, it’s a $1,300 repair, and I paid $1,700 for the car 2.5 years ago. Furthermore, the shop has assured me that this is not an issue that’s going to leave me stranded somewhere. It just might diminish my fuel efficiency and adversely affect my acceleration power. So there’s no way I’m dropping $1,300 on it. None, nada, zip, zero, zilch.
So at 225,000 miles, it is finally a hooptie: it’s got more wrong with it than is worthwhile to fix. The engine light came on again this morning on the way to work; all I can do is hope it’s the same thing, because I’m not paying $25 for the shop to tell me that every week. I can’t even go to Murray’s and use their diagnostic machine to check, because they don’t have a diagnostic machine for my make of car.
But hey – it still runs, and that’s the main thing. I’m still holding out hope for hitting 300K with that car…sputtering plumes of acrid smoke and dropping my bumper along the way, if need be. :-p
