Owning a Car is Hard Work!

Tuesday, I took my car into the dealer for an oil change and they found some boo-boos that would need to be fixed in order for my car to pass inspection. I guess I had a leak in my axel seal and the ball joints needed to be replaced, which would also require an alignment. I also needed new tires (which I'd actually known about for awhile). The axel seal, alignment, and ball joints were covered under our warranty, so I dropped the car off first thing Wednesday morning, expecting it to be finished that evening until the dealer called. Number one, he wasn't going to get some of the parts until later in the afternoon and wouldn't have it ready until Thursday. Number two, we had these same parts replaced in 2007 at another mechanic and I guess he used an after-market part that did not have a lifetime warranty on the labor, so I was going to have to take it back to him to get fixed because the dealer wasn't authorized to fix it. This meant that I was going to have to pay another deductible on top of having to take the car all the way to Murray. I called the warrantly company and explained the situation and told them how I was concerned about having to repay the deductible for this second visit, so they authorized me to take it in and have it put on the same claim ticket. I still had to drive to Murray and likely be without my car all day on Saturday, but hey, at least I didn't have to pay another $100. After lunch on Wednesday, I got another call from the dealer on Thursday and he was able to get the warranty company to let him replace the ball joints with a GM part and have it covered under the same claim. So, not only did I not have to pay another deductible, I didn't have to drive all the way out to Murray. I'll take it! I dropped my car off first thing Friday morning and Scott picked me up and I was able to pick up my car that day (not that I need it on the weekends, but that's OK). This whole situation was kind of stressful and needless to say that I spent a lot of money (I had to pay for all new tires because those are not covered under the warranty, obviously). Now, I get to save up for my 60,000 mile service, which is going to run about $730. Awesome!