On Tuesday, I went in to get the minivan an oil change. (The dealership gave us 3 years free changes when we bought the car.) There was nothing wrong with the car, I just thought I would mention the trip to the dealership. It took them a while to get done, and they put it through their car wash. I don't even know why I am putting this information up here, except there is nothing wrong with the car. (They looked it over like they always do at the dealership. I think they look for reasons to suggest extra work.) Last week, a girl backed into the minivan while it was parked here on the street. It was at 2 in the morning, Tara called me the next day at work to say the car got hit.
The girl left her insurance information, but wanted to talk to us before we submitted the claim. There wasn't a lot of damage, but she busted a plastic bolt that held the quarter panel and bumber onto the car. I finally got around to taking the thing in, (also on Tuesday, but before the oil change) and the guys at Japanese Auto Repair looked it over, stuck a bolt on, and charged me $15.
I ended up calling the girls about the car, when she answered and I started talking to her about it, you could hear the nervousness in her voice. She was waiting for the shoe to drop on the cost of repairs. I finally said "They fixed the thing, and charged me $15." She got surprised, and you could almost hear the tension melt away on the other end. $15 sounded great to her. She then told me that she lived up in Logan, had just been visiting someone, and started asking how to get me the money. I told her that she could just drop it by the next time she was in town. She also seemed to like this answer...
On Thursday, I was headed over to the office of our ISP to trade in the DVR for a new one. It was having playback issues. I got a block away from the place, and was turning right when the power steering suddenly went out. It took me a couple of seconds to realize the engine was not going, either.
Drew came over, we tried to get the thing started. It just wouldn't fire up. (Not the starter, that was reving fine. Not the battery, the radio was still working.) We went and got some starer fluid, but couldn't get the thing to fire. Some other cop had kept calling Drew to ask about a new program they had to map out accident scenes on their laptops, Drew finally asked the guy if he knew anything about fixing pickup trucks, the guy said he did, so Drew had him come over to look at the truck in exchange for showing the other guy how to use this new program. I thought it was a good horse trade, myself. If you look closely at the police records from Thursday for the city, you will see 2 officers out on a stranded motorist at 200 West 800 North. That was me.
The diagnosis was a failed ignition switch. There was no spark being generated. I called Tara to pick me up, and walked the rest of the way to get the new DVR. Later in the afternoon, Ledge towed the truck back to our house with his pickup. (It still wouldn't start.)
On Friday, the truck still didn't start. Drew let me know that the city has an ordinance that you have to move your car every 72 hours when it is parked at the street or you will get ticketed and then towed. This would have been ok normally, I could just push the thing back and forth 10 feet every couple of days, but not when I am off on vacation.
On Sunday, it was time to get the truck into the driveway so it wouldn't get hassled with. I wasn't really looking forward to this, since it's kind of a heavey truck, and our drive is not exactly flat. I got in the truck, and it started right up. (Don't ask me, I have no idea.) I parked it on the drive, and stopped and started it several times without a problem. I'm not going to complain, I hadn't planned to worry about it until I got back, now I won't worry about it at all, at least not until I get back and the thing won't start again...
We got a call from a dealership on Friday looking to make us an offer on the minivan. (Just a couple of days after visiting a different dealership with the signs in the window...) They had several people looking for MPVs. He wanted me to come in to buy it off me. I didn't commit to anything, but said I wanted to get what I was asking for it. He didn't think that would be a problem. (They must have had someone that really wanted the minivan. They are nice vehicles.) Anyway, I confirmed with Drew and KayLynn that they were planning to eventually buy the thing. (KayLynn said "want and need", which was a pretty definite confirmation.) I don't plan to take the car in to the dealership at this point. I think if Drew and Kaylyn want to buy it, I should hang on to it so they can. I ended up taking the big signs out of the window.
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