Another New Car

One of my first posts on this blog was about car troubles. About a month later, one of those cars was put to rest. This post should be the last time I report on car troubles for a few years.

Last summer, a code was tripped in our van indicating a problem with the transmission. If you care, it was P0740. After a little research, I determined it could have been because of the extra torque required of the transmission in the mountains (we were in Colorado) and no big deal or it could signal a BIG problem. A mechanic was convinced it was a big problem and our transmission was on the way out.

Fast forward to last week. We had delayed traveling to visit Emily's sister because I was concerned about the transmission, but Emily decided to make the trip while I was on a business trip. She felt like everything would be ok and wanted to see her sister. I was a little concerned about the car, but I knew she'd figure things out if something went wrong.

We left town the same day, but I was home a day before they were. On their way home, about 1.5 hours from home, the van broke down. She had it towed to a nearby facility; they confirmed the transmission had problems; and we ultimately decided not to rebuild it at a cost near the value of the vehicle. Silly Odyssey transmissions. That was the second time it had gone out - thankfully the first time, it was under an extended warranty due to a class action lawsuit against Honda. Of course, the second transmission was just as prone to problems as the first.

I borrowed a van from some friends to pick up my family and luggage and met them at the shop. After becoming convinced the van's transmission would need a complete rebuild, we decided to junk it. The owner of the shop worked with a wholesale dealer who checked out the car and offered us what I thought was a pretty fair price. And the next day, Emily and I went shopping.

Emily has always wanted a suburban, so we looked at a few along with a couple other models, but decided the suburban was what she really wanted and we found a really good deal on a 2010.

We hadn't planned to buy a new car for a couple more years and didn't have enough money in that savings account yet. Thankfully, the little equity we had from the sale of our house, which I was planning to put toward our mortgage, I had hung onto in case we needed it. I was planning to pay it in January, but that slipped for some reason, so the timing of the breakdown was pretty good.

Another nice blessing: Emily drove about 5-6 hours each way to see her sister. She could have broken down on the first leg while I was out of town. But she broke down on the way home when I was available to come get her. She could have broken down 4 hours away instead of 1.5. But it worked out really well.

And another: We have some really good friends! The family that lent us their van were at the park when I called. They all talked and even the young kids voted to give up the park so I could go get my family. The mother's response when I asked for help was immediate. Borrowing a van is a pretty big deal and this family didn't even hesitate.

Shopping for a car with four kids is tough. Some other friends of ours agreed to take three of them for almost the entire day on Saturday. In an attempt to show our appreciation, we invited them to dinner. It was later than we thought it would be, the place was packed, our dinner took a while to get there, and we ended up with too little food (which made us fell like schmucks), but in spite of all those annoyances, our friends were really gracious about it all.

And finally: the shop where the van ended up was run by a very nice gentleman who came to pick up my family in his suburban (which planted the seed in my wife's mind) as one of his men drove to tow the van. They couldn't all fit in the tow truck and he refused to let my family stay on the side of the freeway. So when I got there, they were hanging out in the shop's waiting room. That was nice.

I feel like a lot of blessings attended this little challenge and I'm really grateful for those blessings, especially in the form of good, honest, kind people who were willing to help us in a difficult time. Even the salesmen who helped us with the suburban were helpful and seemed honest. We were exhausted last weekend, but I'm grateful to have two good cars and so many good friends.