Major Repairs – Part 2

I got my car back from Canadian Tire yesterday. They got in and replaced all the parts required, but however, it took two weeks in the shop to do it, because as they disassembled components to get to the affected ones – they found problems on the way. For one – the strut mounts were toast. Those had to be ordered. The control arm bushings were worn out, but they don’t make the bushings available for order, so both control arms had to be ordered. The front left ball joint was another added bonus – what in the world was THAT for? The final surprise was a proprietary bolt for one of the control arms – a frakking bolt!! The final quoted price for all parts and labor was $2725. Wow.

However, when I got there, Ricky, the guy who works the service counter (I’ve also known him since he was a kid – he went to school with Eugene), cut me a couple deals – he didn’t charge for the diagnoses and shop parts. The final price came to just a bit over $2500. I scrounged up as much CT money as possible – $30. I only had $2100 left on my CT MasterCard, so I racked it up. The remainder went on Interac. In the end, i still had some money left. This money will most likely go towards the security/keyless entry system I wanted.

After a couple deliveries at the restaurant to test drive the car, I found that the cruise control still wasn’t working. Also, my cluster lights weren’t turning on. The banging noise was gone, of course, but there was still the hint of a rattling sound where it used to occur. I’ll take the car back in to check on these things later, probably next month, when I get more money. In the meantime, everything else is working fine. However, driving around at night in pitch blackness sucks, so I might have to get them to check it out next weekend. The security system might have to wait. We’ll see.

The real test drive begins tomorrow, when I take the car to Wabowden and Paint Lake for work. Also, my car is filthy and needs a good wash and detail.