For the last two weeks we have been dealing with a dying car. It was declared dead last Monday and got replaced on the same day. That is the summary. The following is the full blown story. If you don't want to hear a dying car saga's, stop reading now.
Two weeks ago, I got a call just before I leave work from Rudy. He says the Saturn won't start. The guilty party's full name is 2002 Saturn SL2. He mentions maybe getting some gas but we agree, it can't be out gas. It had only gone about 100 miles since the last fill-up. The worst it does is like 180 on a tank. I recommend calling AAA towing and our neighborhood mechanic. He calls back and says he will walk home from the Good Year's once the car gets.
Tuesday, we carpool and he drops me off at work. The bad news is that the module on the computer controlling the engine is wonky. They tried getting the codes but the computer didn't acknowledge having a module. After unplugging the module and replugging, it started. Their recommendation for fixing it was to take over to the dealer because the new module had to be programmed so might as well have a dealer order and install it. We had a debate and went with my idea which was if fixing it would be less than 3 months car payments maybe we should. That might let us wait until the fall and we could look over the new cars. In hindsight, this was a really bad idea and just cost money. We moved the car to the dealer. I followed in case the module conked out going over a bump. Rudy signed it and picked up a rental from Enterprise since it was suppose to take 5 -6 days.
Wednesday, the dealership claims there is no problem. Everything is fine and our mechanic shouldn't have unplugged anything. Does a tune, charges for the diagnostic, and claims we should do a bunch of work no one else has mentioned. They did put all the fluid caps back on this time. That is another story, I don't plan on going into. Rudy picked the car up.
Thursday, the car didn't start while was at work because the battery cables were getting a good connection. He and coworker got it going.
Monday morning, it doesn't start again. The starter turns over and gas goes in the engine. By the time I walked out to head in to work, I could smell gas. We carpooled again. I did a ten minute check at work on new small sedans for prices. We stopped by and chatted with our regular mechanics on the way home. They voted for a new car since the current one was just going to keep breaking down. Yup, the people who get the money fixing it, said get a new one. They voted for the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Nissan Sentra in that about that order. We ate supper and headed off to the closest Honda dealer for a test drive. Figured we would be able to check a Toyota not to far away too.
So, being highly sensible logical people, we bought the first car we saw. Turns out when Monday is St. Patrick's day and predicted to get a fair amount of snow, it is a good day to go car shopping. The car was acceptable and the deal was good.
The Saturn will get towed by a charity soon and I have succeed in not doing the Saturn is gone dance. I didn't care for the first one or the second one. There are two reasons, getting a back ache if I spent two hours in the car and the clutch. Now we can trade vehicles without me getting stuck at home. Admittedly, if I really needed to I would have driven it. I just knew everyone was happier if I didn't drive a clutch.
For those who care, the new Civic is Royal Blue Pearl LX automatic four door sedan. I think that explains what it looks like and all of the features.
Next time, I have some knitting to talked about.
The question was which sock yarn should I knit up next. 
