113,142 hiccups!

errr.

my car started missing (and i mean it never does this), and threw an engine light ...

bad news because i'm not entirely sure i can limp it the 13 miles i need to get to my favorite dealer out here. after waiting a day i'm able to get it in, not really worried about what's "wrong."  why should i, i'm covered, right?

turns out it's a split vacuum line, and lo' and behold, it's not covered by my service contract.

in fact, i spent a l-o-n-g time on the phone with chrysler and even the reps (i spoke to more than one) couldn't believe it wasn't covered.  my guess, and this is only a guess, is that it was simply omitted.

odd.

not expensive (only $46 more than my deductible) but still not welcome.

$146

112,469 new battery ++

i'm in CA and my car keeps acting like it doesn't want to start ... in fact, sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't.  not that big a deal since i carry jumper cables with me, but i don't like the idea of crossing deserts with questionable batteries ... you run out of juice in the middle of nowhere and you may get a lot more than a frame stripped.

so i go to the local walmart and get a battery to do my own swap (the warranty is better and it's cheaper) ... the switch isn't trivial since the engine compartment is SO tightly jammed together, except ...

when i go to pull the battery out, the air hose to the air cleaner is almost completely cloven ... not what i was expecting.

so i call up normandin ... they're able to take me right in ... i have them replace the air line under my service contract and install the battery for another $35.  that makes my battery more expensive than i had originally intended, but still cheaper than if i'd had the whole thing done at the dealer to begin with.  (i'm actually kinda surprised that they had the air hose in stock ... turbo versions of cruisers have to be getting just a touch rare.)

i'm starting to wonder if i'm gonna get nickle-and-dimed by the continual car.

$35 for battery install
$100 service contract deductible
$250 SCR