The Price of Freedom

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Seven hundred dollars.

That's how much it cost to get my car back on the road again. Two weekends ago, I'm driving along Iron Bridge Road, minding my own business, when I noticed the coolant light flashing on. I pulled right over just in time to see steam coming out of the hood. That's not good. The main hose had completely popped off, which apparently is a sign of the thermostat going bad which means I had to rig it back together, fill the radiator with water and try to drive it home.

I was able to limp it back home, but it was seriously overheating, so I decided I would go to Advance Auto on Monday, drive the car to Petey, my regular mechanic, when I can't take the car to Dad, and have him fix it for me.

That plan didn't work. I was able to drive it all of two miles before it started to act up again. It was hissing and the hose popped off again, so I decided to pull the car into a local shop next to the Advanced Auto to get a thermostat, have them replace it and everything would be back to normal.

That plan didn't work either. The next day, I got my car back and got to work just in time to see steam coming out again. I was pissed! Those A-Holes didn't fix my car...they better fix it right this time, I'm not paying 'em a dime! Come to find out my intake manifold gasket was leaking and that had to be replaced pronto. I don't think they could have spotted that. Everyone was in agreement the thermostat blew out and the problem was resolved.

So they had my car all week. I had to catch rides with Janine and Leslie to get me to work and back. I'm so very appreciative too! I got my baby up pretty much every morning earlier than she had to be up just to take me into work..even on her off day! I can't thank her enough. How did I get to be so damn lucky? I love her.

This morning, the car was ready. Janine took me over there to cover the damages and get me back on my way again. The car drives perfectly now, I can still smell a little coolant, but I can imagine that's to be expected at first. The guys that fixed my car were professional and if they can cut me better deals in the future, I just may go back to them again. I know for sure I'm going to constantly check my radiator to make sure there's an abundance of coolant running through my car.

The funny thing is...I'm not the only person who's had this problem. Apparently, a lot of GM owners have had the same problem with Dexcool cooling systems. There's even a pending class action lawsuit. Then again there's a pending class action lawsuit for everything. I just know that after losing that much money, if the manufacturer has been shilling out crappy cars, they'll end up losing more than a customer, that's for sure!

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