My Daughter took her Mustang 120 miles away, how to deal with that? Part One.
I know that a lot of parents deal with this problem, as their kids go away and sometimes stay away after college.
I was the one that was in charge of keeping an eye on it, even with it in the driveway I wasn't always completely on top of everything. I almost never drove the car and she was frequently gone with it.
So what can I do now that they are no longer here?
My daughter is not car savvy or even car sensitive. This isn't a put down, most people that aren't enthusiasts or a hobbyist usually aren't. My Wife leaves it all up to me, so far I have a pretty good record.
The first hurdle is to find a good repair shop in your neighborhood. This is in itself a major hurdle.
Truthfully, modern cars need very little until a major repair is called for. She called me and told me that her car was making strange noises. I drove up there, armed with all kinds of tools, but truthfully her apartment parking lot wasn't somewhere I would have been comfortable with working on her car. The first thing I did after checking fluids and belts was to take it on a test drive.
Being unfamiliar with her new neighborhood I kept my eyes open while test driving the Mustang, I covered fifty miles. I found a Meineke service center on Harbor Blvd about ten miles from her place but very close to the freeway. The shop was neat and clean and the employees looked squared away.
The first thing I had them do was to check for the air leakage in the right rear tire. They found and removed a nail in the center of the tread, Further inspection revealed a somewhat loose ball joint on the right front, where the wheel frequently hits the curb when parking.
Besides the sometimes whinny differential I didn't notice anything really out of the usual.
The car is 15 years old with 165 k on it. Things are bound to start going bad. This visit was over six months ago
I had done quite a bit of preventive maintenance, being preemptive before she left.
Oil change, rear end lube change, all coolant, and heater hoses were replaced, thermostat and housing, radiator cap, spark plugs, and air filter.
Serpentine belt tensioner and idler pulley.
Transmission fluid and filter change, rear brake pads, and a pre-emptive fuel pump replacement. (expensive!)
If I recall correctly all this work added up to a couple thousand dollars and change.
Just a couple of days ago I got a late night text asking if I could go with her to the shop because she had some concerns and wanted to take the car in.
The next morning I drove up.
I did a cursory check under the hood and didn't notice anything wrong, then I took it on a test drive. I didn't feel that it was any different than it felt before. She drives very little up there.
The same Meineke shop that fixed the tire performed a complete diagnostic check. The cost was 175 dollars. It also included a test drive. It was quite thorough with plenty of photos. This inspection record will go in the service file.
The tech informed us that the overdrive light on the dash had begun to flash during the test drive. (After some research I found that this flashing warning corresponds to a flashing CEL. It's an indication that there's a problem!) They recovered a transmission code of PO735, which indicates a problem with engagement of fifth gear/OD.
The shop prepared an estimate for a transmission as well as a differential rebuild. The total cost for their recommended repairs came in at just under 9,000.00!
Therein lies the dilemma of old cars, the Mustang is not worth 9,000 dollars. But it of course worth something. Besides the maintenance that I mentioned above, the car still has good tires and a recent battery in it. Overall it's still in pretty good cosmetic shape, in and out. However a little love and attention could go a long way in preserving the car.
Like any vehicle that has received major repairs over time, the real value is the utility the owner can receive from it. The cost of the repairs can only be realized over time, it's important that the owner keep and use the car for several more years. It's called amortization.
I discussed all this with my Daughter, I told her that people often spend quite a bit of money fixing up their old car then decide that they don't really want it anymore. I told her how people often fix big things like engines, transmissions, and suspension, and then sell it anyway, because they just don't "trust" the car anymore. Sometimes it's only after new tires and brakes, which can easily run up to 1,000 dollars. It's quite common for owners fill the tank with gas before they visit the car dealer and make an impulse buy.
While it's human nature, it's not a smart financial move. 9,000 bucks is a lot of money, and while I saw some things that were added in to fluff up the cost, almost a grand worth, it was still a major repair. The shop was not going to build the tranny in house, they would remove it and send it to an associated transmission shop. This means that they would pay a wholesale price for the job, and charge me retail, with the shop's profit factored in, and their profit added on top of that. Maybe that's why it would cost 4,800.00.
Yeah I know, everyone's gotta eat!
They told me that they would rebuild the differential in house.
My Daughter was adamant that she wants to keep the Mustang, which is fine. My '96 is nine years older, my '70 was 37 years older, Mustangs of any age make good keepers!
The trick is to find a more affordable alternative. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't have an extra nine grand lying around, neither in fact, do I. But my Wife and I decided that we will help her out in this case. She does need her car, and after this, I think that she will take the whole car ownership situation more seriously.
On the drive home I was mulling over the possible solutions and continued thinking about the situation the rest of the day.
A day later we got a call telling us that the Mustang had given up the ghost as she was backing it out of a parking spot. Luckily it happened at her apartment parking lot.
The day after we had the car inspected I had spent the next day speaking with a couple of transmission shops in San Jose.
I spoke to a mechanic I know, and have used before, who would R&R the transmission with a rebuilt unit for 600.00. He told that all I had to do was have the rebuilt unit delivered to his shop and he would handle the rest. This is one option.
I spoke with another transmission shop that would do a guaranteed rebuild in house. Of course when I asked, they would never give me the worst case scenario price. Just tell me what it would cost for a full rebuild! They know how much that will cost, I guess that they don't want to scare a customer away, they want the car in the shop on the lift, and the owner committed to the repair. They must teach them that tactic in transmission repair school! I told him what the Sacramento shop gave me as a written estimate. I had told him that I had driven up to Sac to help my daughter get this estimate. I might have been trying to elicit a little empathy for my situation. Then I asked him about installing a re manufactured unit. He told me that he could do that, but he did make some persuasive arguments for letting him do the rebuild in house, instead.
His best argument was that he would stand behind the repair and if it needed correction, he would handle whatever it needed, even the extra removal and repair. If he merely installed a unit for me, he could not cover any additional labor for a correction. He would have to charge me extra for that. And for storage. My car would be taking up valuable room in his shop. These were all sensible and practical points.
While the rebuilding companies I had been investigating all offered multiple year warranties on their units, the sticking point is always the labor. Who will provide the labor to repair or replace the troubled tranny? This is something that has to be seriously considered. I suppose if they had "authorized" installers they might treat it like an "in house" repair with a complete guarantee. When I replaced the transmission in my XJS with a used unit, I was taking a chance. I was taking the word of the shop that sold it to me that it was good, but really how can anyone guarantee a used mechanism? That was for a hobby car that even now spends almost all it's time in the garage. If the transmission proved to be bad, that car would have been sitting for a lot longer! For a car that I depended on for daily transportation I would have probably have chosen another option, provided that I could have afforded it.
I know that there are a lot of people that have to take those chances, swapping in junkyard transmissions and hoping for the best.
Later that afternoon I was surprised to receive a phone call from the shop, where the owner was willing to discuss the actual prices of his work. He told me that a complete rebuild would be 3,600.00 and the R&R would be 600.00. I asked to clarify, "so the total would be 4,200?" and he said no, the 3,600 price included the total labor. That number did sound good to me!
Now I just had to get the Mustang down to San Jose.
I considered hooking up a trailer to my truck and retrieving the Mustang myself. Then my Wife reminded me that we had a 200 mile tow available through Triple A.
The next day we got the call from our daughter that the Mustang had died.
I called the shop and made an appointment for the next opening. The best I could do was over a week away.
Mu daughter will have the car towed to our house, and then we'll have it towed to the shop when it's available.
I'll use some of the time with the car at the house to take a look at the non functioning power seat motor. I find it incredible how expensive those seat motor units are.
Now I'm just waiting for the Mustang to show up at our house.
No comments:
Post a Comment