My Expensive Ride to Work

What a day.

Overnight thunderstorms made for a soggy morning, and the rain has continued all day long.

So, the roads were wet and as I made my merry way to work I ended up rear ending the car in front of me (traffic was backing up, the guy slammed on his brakes, I slammed on mine, realized I had no traction, felt the car sliding, I turned the wheel to try to avoid the guy in front of me and go into the grass, but nailed him dead on anyway). Mike just happened to be in his car behind me, also on his way to work, so he pulled over as well.

At first I didn't think the guy was going to stop - I hit him, and as traffic moved, he continued. But he pulled over, got out, took a look at his car, we look at mine, he says "Everything's okay?", we agree and he gets in his car and leaves.

Okay, that was easy.

Not 10 minutes later, I hear something. I thought that was it was the semi truck next to me, as I no longer hear the noise once the truck was gone. I'm on the cell phone with Mike, and it starts again. I tell him the car is making noise, and to meet me over at the dealership (we were right nearby). It's not making the noise when we get there, but Mike opens the hood, and we listen. I give it a little gas, and the noise starts again. Mike goes in to speak to the service advisors, and the noise stops.

Mike comes out, tells me to pull it inside and once inside the noise starts again and the service techs all start poking around inside and realize the noise is coming from the fan. They take the car in, and we wait to find out the damage.

The fan needed to be replaced, and the compressor is bent. The fan was a must fix - the compressor was something optional that would not harm the safety of the car, but it's likely going to give out and we'll be without A/C.

So, they show us how much. Just under $500 for the fan alone. Good grief. To get the compressor all back to new -- nearly $1000. Thanks, but no thanks. It's a 5 year old car with almost 100,000 miles on it. If it goes out, I'll live without A/C for as long as possible or until we're ready for a new car.

My minor fender bender - which there was no visible damage to the exterior of our car - cost $457 to fix with another $1000 in optional repairs. Ouch!

I'm ready for a drink!!!!