The Walk of Shame

[Turtle]

There comes a time in every Corolla owner's life when things aren't always unicorns and rainbows. Remember that time you drove into a sunset, sunglasses on, windows rolled down, listening to your favorite music such as 'Karma Chameleon' by the Culture Club? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEj93paUdh4&sns=em

Remember that time you woke up all groggy and a little late, just to have that feeling wash away as you drove toward the sunrise, listening to your favorite morning jam such as 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YPVugUCVLQ&sns=em

How about that time when you drove down the coast listening to 'Christmas in Hollis' by Run DMC, checking out the hip-hop honeys of Pescadero? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4NKwiXGiUQ&sns=em

Well it all goes to ish when you go to the not-so local Blockbuster to drop off ARGO and DREDD to find that the battery's so far gone that the starter won't even click. And the jump box you pre-emptively bought for such an occasion? Starter coughs, but it's still not enough to get you back on the road. Flag down a nice lady to give you a jump with the back-up, back-up jumper cables you keep in your crash box? You were better off trying to use the jump box that didn't already work. Plus, awww, you tweaked your coccyx trying to lift that mini-van's hood which was deceptively light. You just had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. You should move to Australia.

Since this may have happened to you before, you got triple A after the last time when you vowed 'no more spending $100+ each time I break down'. You called them, but now is the wait. Since you're so corolla-minded, you are doing an ish-ton if diagnostics while you're silently (or not-so silently) freaking out. See that analog voltmeter you installed a while back for just such an occasion? it's below 12. Frak. Your so-called advanced Optima Yellow Top just took a dump for the worst. So much for paying more for a 'quality product'. But why? Is it just the battery, or is it also the alternator? How about the alternator wiring? Maybe you should have upgraded your 'Big 3'.

In the back of your mind, now you're thinking:

'Digital voltmeter, that's what I need. no more guessing what the analog one is telling you.'

'Upgrade the 'Big 3', you got nothing to lose but an few bucks. The wiring is like 8 gauge and it's just as old as the car!'

'Get the alternator checked. O'reilly and Autozone do it for free. Or when you get your digital voltmeter, you can do the diagnostics yourself if you were so inclined.'

'get the warranty from Optima. It only failed after two years.'

'next battery you get, it better be from costco. They have the best warranty that's out there. it's virtually no questions asked, and it resets each time you get a new one. as-opposed to the optima one, which runs out after 3 years from the purchase date, AND you have to wait for it to get shipped. AND you have to prove that it's failed by doing a bunch of legwork. bleh. '

And as you see the Triple A guy arrive, you breathe a bittersweet sigh of relief as now you're no longer alone with your thoughts, but now have to sit through the walk (rather, ride) of shame.







R

P.S. The Optima people warrantied the battery. The transaction was reasonably painless. The real pain was the wait for the new battery to arrive, but their customer service was pretty good.

[oldeskewltoy]

There comes a time in every Corolla owner's life when things aren't always unicorns and rainbows.

Since you're so corolla-minded, you are doing an ish-ton if diagnostics while you're silently (or not-so silently) freaking out.

My time (recent version) I was accelerating on to the Ross Island bridge(going east). Just as I shifted to 2nd, one of the TPS wires broke....
stranded me on a bridge

[DJManila]

This just happened to me when I was letting it run at idle in-front of my house. Car just turned itself off and been trouble shooting it since.

[Clutch_Kick_Lou]

This happened to me recently as well. Was at a red light and the throttle cable gave out, I don't care if the car breaks down when I'm by myself but when I have a date with me.... It's farking embarrassing. Never called me back/vice versa.

[Red]

I won't say my car has never developed old age mysteries...the damned "won't start if it was left out overnight" thing took a year to resolve. Mainly because I was too stubborn to take it into a shop. Who I won't name because he apparently did FIX it, but he also gave me a line of BS about what he fixed, like replaced the 40A fuse block, which ahem doesn't exist in a GT-S.

Last time the alternator went (I seem to need three within two weeks to a year, and then can go 10 years with no problems) was in the middle of the Everglades, Alligator Alley to those who know it. Dead smack in the middle, and the nice man from the AAA called back to confirm that I must be on the shoulder under the ONE CAMERA THAT WAS NOT WORKING. There was a nice breeze, the truck came in 1/2 hour. I've been stuck out in worse, when handy cell phones didn't exist either. Oh, you lucky kids, cell phones AND indoor plumbing.<G>

Still, I admit I've been looking around and there's damned little out there that impresses me. I liked the A3 Quattro wagon (I'm a freak, I like wagons) till I found out it has almost a full inch less ground clearance than a GT-S. Been there, done that, won't go there again. Damned sweet handling, great throttle response. Fortunately, not in production this year until fall. Tried the Imprezza, nice power off the line, runs out of engine real fast soon after. Really don't want to spend forty or fifty grand on some of the other choices. If Audi gives the new Q3 some ground clearance and doesn't raise the price too much higher...Well hell, the world could end by October too.

So...if it needs some professional attention, I think I'll just call that the way to go. Batteries, alternators...I think the phrase is "use the other hand" because there's so much junk being sold, and so much FUD being peddled. Even by the chains, where you'd think they could get it right. Go figure that junkyard alternators are just as reliable as rebuilt/reman'd ones, right?

Then there's BMW, where you wouldn't want to update the stereo because you need a fiber-optic interface kit...or pretty much any new car where there are maybe 100 sensors, that's about 98 more things to break or maintain than we have. Oh, yah, und if you vant to change the oil, you must remove zee engine cover und void zee varranty. (No, not really, just claim ignorance.)

And so little else handles so sweetly, when all the moving parts are moving smoothly.

The regiment ain't votin' for a new 'un! (Ask your pharmacist if you don't know that joke.)

[kulitko]

Dude I know exactly what your talking about. You didnt mention that erking feeling when they try to load the car on the bed and the bottom bumper starts scratching and you scream like a little bitch. Or when they unload it and the exhaust for some reason looks like its gonna scrape... Then you start screaming again like a little bitch =). In any case... I love it... its like a little adventure. You never know when its gonna happen =)

[Red]

Fortunately the tow driver that came has been at work longer than one day. He had no problem pulling it up, or dropping it off, without scraping either end.