I hit the hundred thousand miles today. My Hyundai Accent made it!! The first hundred thousand were eventful - many trips to Ohio and back, an accident in 2005 that required body work (which happened in the middle of divorce proceedings, selling my house, and full-time grad school!), and the forced conversion of my Itunes music to the I-trip wireless device (when the cassette player stopped working!). Here are the specifics:
Date: Saturday, May 4th, 2009
Time: 12:15 pm
Purpose of the trip: To pick up my daughters from their mom's. On the way, I d
ropped off some old clothes to a clothes charity bin at the Mugg and Bopps Sunoco station in Dexter, then to Dr. Gary Gochanour (Dentist), to pay a bill. I then picked up the girls. When I left their Mom's, there were 99,995 miles on the car. I was on my way to drop the older girl to a friend's house at Westridge, then back home where the other could get ready for a soccer game (played today at Hudson Mills. They lost, 3 - 0 - but are showing marked improvement!)
Where: Heading south, at the boundary of Webster and Dexter Townships. The odometer stayed on 100,000 all the way to Jenny's Market.
On the Ipod/Radio: "Evil Woman," by the Electric Light Orchestra, from my Favorite Songs of 1976 Playlist.
Other Things About This Day: I had a cool morning, hauling a truckload of recyclables with my Dad, including an old TV, a rotten old recliner, a bunch of drain gutters and accessories from my ex's, and her old water softener. I am in the middle of two weeks proctoring tests at South Arbor Academy. And my hearing is limited, due to a plug somewhere up in my sinuses.
Goal for the 101,000 Mark: I would like to have the interior looking better. Buy new floor mats, and shampoo the upholstery, which does not look good after being the car of a single dad that has been on the run a lot. I also would like it to occur while visiting one of the other neighboring townships.
Service Required Once I Have the Funds: Fix a rattle above the rear passenger wheel. Dean (see below) says it is something to do with the shock absorber. It is not a problem, only a little irritating - and when I want to bring it in he can tighten it up. Also - I have a little rust showing up around the wheel wells. Either Dean or my brother-in-law can do this work, hopefully before I get to 110,000. (I need to build up the funds).
Now - about the saving of $929. I wrote in my first post, that my faithful dealership, that had been very good to me for
most of the first 100,000 miles (Oh, I get it now - they had to be, since I was under warranty!), had quoted a thousand dollars worth of work, required on my car. The service manager had asked me "How much longer do you want this car?" Uh, yeah - he does want to sell cars at some point! He described an oil leak, problem with the rear passenger tire rotation, and some other things that if not fixed will cause me real troubles.
So I took it in to Dean Schwalbach in Dexter, who is going to be my chief car mechanic now that I have no more warranty, (and am free to suspect anything uttered by a guy whose main business is to sell cars!). In a few hours, Dean was able to find nothing wrong. He even showed me the oil system, and spark plugs - no leak at all, although the spark plugs needed replacing.
The Hyundai guy had told me that they would deduct the $215 they charged me for looking at my engine, once I brought it back in for the work. Meanwhile, they "temporarily" got the check engine light to turn off.
It has me thinking that they actually did $215 worth of work, like maybe a tune-up/oil change/grease job, but would not tell me that because they wanted me to think there was something terribly wrong with my car!
OK, I like these guys at Hyundai, and I hope that, by the time I get to the 200,000 miles mark (are there others out there that want a car to last that long?), they step up and help me prove that there still are durable cars out there!
So, thanks to Dean and his crew. He replaced the spark plugs for $71 dollars, and it runs like a charm today.
Date: Saturday, May 4th, 2009
Time: 12:15 pm
Purpose of the trip: To pick up my daughters from their mom's. On the way, I d
ropped off some old clothes to a clothes charity bin at the Mugg and Bopps Sunoco station in Dexter, then to Dr. Gary Gochanour (Dentist), to pay a bill. I then picked up the girls. When I left their Mom's, there were 99,995 miles on the car. I was on my way to drop the older girl to a friend's house at Westridge, then back home where the other could get ready for a soccer game (played today at Hudson Mills. They lost, 3 - 0 - but are showing marked improvement!)Where: Heading south, at the boundary of Webster and Dexter Townships. The odometer stayed on 100,000 all the way to Jenny's Market.
On the Ipod/Radio: "Evil Woman," by the Electric Light Orchestra, from my Favorite Songs of 1976 Playlist.
Other Things About This Day: I had a cool morning, hauling a truckload of recyclables with my Dad, including an old TV, a rotten old recliner, a bunch of drain gutters and accessories from my ex's, and her old water softener. I am in the middle of two weeks proctoring tests at South Arbor Academy. And my hearing is limited, due to a plug somewhere up in my sinuses.
Goal for the 101,000 Mark: I would like to have the interior looking better. Buy new floor mats, and shampoo the upholstery, which does not look good after being the car of a single dad that has been on the run a lot. I also would like it to occur while visiting one of the other neighboring townships.
Service Required Once I Have the Funds: Fix a rattle above the rear passenger wheel. Dean (see below) says it is something to do with the shock absorber. It is not a problem, only a little irritating - and when I want to bring it in he can tighten it up. Also - I have a little rust showing up around the wheel wells. Either Dean or my brother-in-law can do this work, hopefully before I get to 110,000. (I need to build up the funds).
Now - about the saving of $929. I wrote in my first post, that my faithful dealership, that had been very good to me for
most of the first 100,000 miles (Oh, I get it now - they had to be, since I was under warranty!), had quoted a thousand dollars worth of work, required on my car. The service manager had asked me "How much longer do you want this car?" Uh, yeah - he does want to sell cars at some point! He described an oil leak, problem with the rear passenger tire rotation, and some other things that if not fixed will cause me real troubles.So I took it in to Dean Schwalbach in Dexter, who is going to be my chief car mechanic now that I have no more warranty, (and am free to suspect anything uttered by a guy whose main business is to sell cars!). In a few hours, Dean was able to find nothing wrong. He even showed me the oil system, and spark plugs - no leak at all, although the spark plugs needed replacing.
The Hyundai guy had told me that they would deduct the $215 they charged me for looking at my engine, once I brought it back in for the work. Meanwhile, they "temporarily" got the check engine light to turn off.
It has me thinking that they actually did $215 worth of work, like maybe a tune-up/oil change/grease job, but would not tell me that because they wanted me to think there was something terribly wrong with my car!
OK, I like these guys at Hyundai, and I hope that, by the time I get to the 200,000 miles mark (are there others out there that want a car to last that long?), they step up and help me prove that there still are durable cars out there!
So, thanks to Dean and his crew. He replaced the spark plugs for $71 dollars, and it runs like a charm today.
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