You long-time Gentle Readers know that I'm in love with my car, AKA The Green Hornet, so named by a friend of mine back in SFO a short time after I acquired her. The car, not the friend. And she IS a beauty, is she not?
You long-time readers also know I'm prone to brag on her a bit, being especially fond of saying I have not had one single problem in the 9 years, 8 months, and 21 days we've been together. (I know it's exactly that long coz I went here.) But she IS getting long in the tooth and old ladies begin to develop problems in their old age. Allow me to make a short story longer, if you will.
I got a letter from Mazda Motor Company of America (or whatever their formal name is) about two months after I purchased TGH informing me there was an "optional" recall in effect... said recall having to do with defective clutches on 2001 Miatas manufactured between certain dates and with certain Vehicle ID Numbers... and my honey-baby fell into that range. I immediately phoned the Miata store, being the concerned sort I AM, and inquired about the recall. The service manager asked if I was having any sort of problem with my clutch and I replied to the effect that "No, I was not." "Well, don't worry about it," said he. And like a fool I dismissed the subject completely.
Bad move.
About a year ago I noticed TGH would shudder noticeably when I let the clutch out from a dead stop, but only when she was cold. After she warmed up to operating temperature the problem went away. And that's where it stayed... up until our recent long trek. She began shuddering and juddering ANY time I let the clutch out from a dead stop... so much so that we held our breath whilst crawling through Atlanta's stop-and-go rush hour traffic a few days ago. Shorter: the clutch is not long for this world, and this with only slightly more than 50K miles on her odo-clock. I've NEVER replaced a clutch on any of my previous auto-machines, some of which had in excess of 120,000 miles on them when we parted company. And have I mentioned TGH only has slightly more than 50K on her clock? I think I did.
So. The good news is we shall have a new clutch come this Thursday or Friday. The better news is the repair isn't going to be as pricey as I thought, what with only costing a tad more than 600 Yankee Dollars, parts and labor. And that's at the local Mazda store and not at Bubba Palmetto's Shade Tree Lawn Mower Repair and Automotive Emporium. I'm funny that way, in that I want Mazda guys working on my Mazda, Beemer guys working on my Beemer, or Chevy guys wrenching on my Chevys.
I love the Green Hornet - she seems to be a perfect fit for you. A caddy or a camero would be a pricey drive, and unless you are planning on hitting the road much more often, it doesn't seem worth it. I like it that you are taking care of your old lady.
ReplyDeleteWhen you love a car - nothing is too much to keep her in fighting form.
ReplyDeleteBlogger seems to be eating comments today.
ReplyDeleteLou commented at 0601 today, saying...
I love the Green Hornet - she seems to be a perfect fit for you. A caddy or a camero would be a pricey drive, and unless you are planning on hitting the road much more often, it doesn't seem worth it. I like it that you are taking care of your old lady.
And it's not appeared as of 0648.
ANYhoo... I agree with both you ladies, even tho Erma was running me HARD to just "trade her in!" and get the new car... But love is love, innit?
Look at this way, the $600 you'll lay down for repairs is much cheaper than buying a new vehicle. And, 9 years without any major problems sounds pretty darn good to me, low mileage or no.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. The older a car gets, if you love it, the bigger it's soul becomes. You wouldn't want to just dump a soulmate without very good reason.
ReplyDelete600 bucks is definitely low pricing for clutch. But they (The Japanese) make some fine products that require little maintenance other than running regularly and changing the fluids.
ReplyDeleteHave a fine week!
w/v "bar id"
I have distinct memories of driving my first car (a 1942 Jeep) and clutching that mother in stop-and-go rush hour traffic on I-285 around Atlanta some 35 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could get ANYTHING done for just 600 bucks on a car anymore. Just kidding, of course, but that is a darn reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteGreat price, even better turnaround time.
ReplyDeleteLove her gently, Buck. The patina on a "woman" of a certain age is worth solid gold.
I think Bubba Palmetto's brother has a shop around the corner!
BR: That's ZACTLY how I look at it. There will come a time when repair costs will no longer meet the ROI test but we're not anywhere NEAR that point yet.
ReplyDeleteJim: We're in full agreement on what you said. TGH has LOTSA soul.
Darryl (and others): My gut feel was I'd drop about 1200 large on a new clutch, parts and labor. Imagine my surprise... my HAPPY surprise.
WWW: Atlanta rush hour on I-20 is PAINFUL. I did about a half-hour of literal stop-and-go creeping... heart in mouth all the way, too.
Andy: Yup. I am most pleased.
Love her gently, Buck. The patina on a "woman" of a certain age is worth solid gold.
Heh. Yes, Ma'am! I'll choose to read that on a number of different levels, if'n ya don't mind. And keep my hopes up.
And... I think Bubba Palmetto has cousins runnin' establishments all over the Southland.
The Green Hornet is one sweet looking Lady.
ReplyDelete