There comes a time in every car's life where it is old. Past its prime. Scrap. That time almost came for the 'blue' car. Our lovely Escape, with less than 50,000 miles on it and only five years old decided that its current engine just couldn't hack it anymore. When Jason turned the key on Monday morning to start it up, an unpleasant knocking noise was heard. Hoping for something simple to fix, it went to the dealer for a look-see.
Later that day, Jason got the news - a new engine was needed. A rod had broken. Blah. Blah. Blah. $4-6k. Crazy laughter, muttering and cursing followed. That would have been from me, when he called to share the 'good' news.
How the hell does that happen?!?!?! How does a car, that we only ask to drive approximately 50-70 miles a week crap out like that? It's not old. It is well loved, cared for. It has a nice garage to hang out in. A van to converse with overnight. What the heck else does it need?
After much soul searching, research and more swearing (me again) we made a decision. One of the perks of Jason's job is meeting all sorts of people with different talents. One of those such people, Jimmy, offered to try and find an engine. With a more reasonable install charge, he said he could replace it. THANK YOU JIMMY!!!!! We will certainly owe you big time!
So, sorry dealer, you're not getting us to bend over on this one. You should be ashamed of yourselves! Charging almost double the cost of the actual engine in labor. Do you really think we are that stupid? I wonder what they would have said the cost would have been had I been the one to bring it in. What, take advantage of a woman? A car dealer? Never.
Now, we just have to wait patiently for about a week or so for Jimmy to complete the transplant. I think we can manage.
