The Verdict On My Car Is ...

... not good.  But I can drive it still!

I was at the Rembrandt exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for almost three hours.  I feel good that I was able to enjoy artwork for such an afternoon, but I was afraid the mechanic around the corner left a message for me about a couple hours after I dropped off the car this morning and is now waiting for me to call back.

So I decided to not wait any longer, and around a quarter after 3 I turn on my phone.  They did not leave a voicemail, which is surprising, so now I'm under the gun and I need to know how they're doing.

Got the person I talk to, who said he was just about to look for quotes ... and basically, if I got everything fixed, it would cost more than what the car is worth.  There are six big leaks, three in the transmission and three in the engine.  The most important priority, a bolt in the differential/transmission, is so bad that it might need to be replaced entirely, which, from how they insinuate it, would be at least two grand.  Well, fuck that, and fuck all the other leaks.

But the oil leaks ... you know, my parents are gone till the weekend, and if a reasonable amount can get rid of all the leaks of oil, that would finally stop all the drippings on the driveway, which was the reason I brought my car in in the first place.  He immediately told me those options, indicating that there was so merit to just fixing the engine.

He needed to hang up and get back to me.  When he did, he presented me with a plan: Fix all the oil leaks except for the sensor, which would cost $500 to get a new one, so they're just going to seal the leak.  (Bad news: I won't be able to use the oil level sensor to see when my oil is getting low.)  Meanwhile, they're going to do their damndest to "silicone" the bolt so it'll slow the leak.  Best of all, the total price of just doing this is going to be some amount lower than a grand, which is what I thought I would have to charge on my card.

Now, the bad news:

• There might be some fittings close to the radiator that would just be better to fix right then and there, which would add $150 and $200.
• I will have to watch the transmission like a hawk.
• This might not be done by Thursday, which means I will have to take the bus to my new job (which I start in ... oh, six hours), and that'll take years to get to on Friday.
• There is a chance that the radiator itself needs replacing.  If that's the case, all this gets blown out of the water.  I cannot pay more than what I'm paying, at least for now.  And the more I think of it, the more afraid that that is exactly the monkey wrench that'll fuck me over.

And yet I feel a little better than I did before.  First of all, even though I still have my doubts, I am encouraged that these guys understand that I'm in a bind, and they're doing all they can to get this car limping around and functional.  Second, there is something to be said about certainty.  Before today I didn't know how bad it was going to be.  Now I do, and not only is it ... uh, OK (at least when it comes to sealing up the engine), in some ways it was not as bad as I feared.  Of course, things could totally change tomorrow.  Yep, they could change tomorrow.

Need to shower and prepare for work at ... fuck, seven in the morning?