Got up early to take my Corolla to the dealer for its 6 month service, plus I asked them to check the passenger front window and my brakes. The brakes have been squeaking. They started to do the service and they noticed I was low on oil. Then they noticed that there was oil on my valves, crankcase and some other parts of the engine. They found the leak. It was in a timing cover gasket that is under the engine. The bad news is they have to hoist the engine to replace the gasket and anytime they have to hoist the engine, the labor is expensive. I remembered Ben and I once had a Toyota pickup truck that had the same leaky gasket. Ben said we really had to replace it because the oil on the engine can cause the car to catch fire when the engine gets hot. So with that thought in my head, I told them to go ahead and do it. Better safe than sorry. Also they found the front rotors on the car needed to be machined just like I had done last month on the 4Runner and because the rotors were warping, This messed up the front brakes, so they will need to be replaced. But....it is still cheaper than buying a new car. I'm just glad I listened to Ben telling me it was always good to have 2 vehicles so you always have a spare if one is in the shop. I almost sold the 4Runner after he died and now I am so glad I didn't. I have my tax appointment tomorrow so if they have to keep the Corolla tomorrow too, I'll still be able to keep the appointment since I have the 4Runner. It was dark, cloudy and chilly all day, so Hiker and I did not go out for a walk, plus I didn't want to be out somewhere in case the car dealer called because they told me there was a chance that my car might be done before they close this evening.
Below is a link to "The Mighty Oak"...the newsletter from our local Senior Center. My article is on Page 5.
The Mighty Oak
I loved the vintage corolla I had. But it got too expensive to maintain. I hope yours is out of the shop soon. Your article was very sweet.
ReplyDeleteSorry your car is sick... I had Corollas for several years ---and only had trouble with one of them. Since we bought the 2 Prius's, we haven't had any problems. Hope we don't---but if we do, we'll do what you are doing----JUST FIX IT.
ReplyDeleteWe do only have one car --so we'd be renting a car I'm sure if they had to keep the car. What year is your Corolla? I kept my Corollas for 5 years--but we kept our first Prius for 8 yrs.... It was SUCH a good car and had almost 250,000 miles on it...We could have kept it longer --but were afraid to take it on long trips.
Good Luck.
Hugs,
Betsy