Did I mention my car broke down? Because it did. I was driving home from work one week ago today when it coasted to a stop only 3 or four blocks from my apartment. I called the boyfriend who drove down and took a peek under the hood with a big green flashlight. He could see nothing immediately wrong with anything he could see and prepared himself to push.
I steered while the boyfriend got behind my car and made it move uphill. I had my window and was yelling to him for inspiration, "You’re doing good, baby!" Someone on their porch asked the boyfriend if he needed help. I suppose they couldn’t hear my screams about how great he was doing. He declined their offer. Then in the last stretch when the hill became higher and my car had slowed considerably, an old man in a truck parked, jumped out and helped the boyfriend push my car into a legal spot. We exchanged thank yous and had a quick discussion about what could be the problem with my car. When people asked me how it happened I wanted to tell them it seemed my car just gave up the will to go.
I called my dad to see if he could recommend a mechanic and before I knew it he’d arranged to have it towed in a few hours to the repair shop of his friend, to be fixed and ready, if possible, on Monday morning. And it was.
And it only cost me $700. Turns out it wasn’t the timing belt like everyone suspected since I have a timing chain. The boyfriend kept telling me that, but I didn’t believe him for some reason, even though he is always right about everything. Perhaps it’s spite. Anyway, the problem was the distributor and it’s cap. Now, I don’t know if the distributor cap I got was Gucci or Prada, but I know it better make my distributor look skinny even on bloated days and transition well from day to evening for $700.
7 comments ↓
I hate stories about cars getting sick. Since I know a lot about cool movies I’ve seen but nothing about cars, I’m always at the mercy of people I probably shouldn’t trust when something goes wrong with mine.
Wish I lived in New York and didn’t need a car at all. That said, my Honda Accord wagon kicks butt.
That sounds like an outrageous amount of money for something as piddlin’ as a distributor and cap, but what do I know?
wow $700 for a distributer cap…..what do u drive a sherman tank? well right there might make a good argument not to move south if prices are that high…lol. they normally run $10 to $50 bucks, dont even want to know what a spark plug change would run ya .. best of luck
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They installed a new distributor, distributor capm changed rotar point (or something) and replaced the spark plugs. And towed it.
This was a friend of my dad’s so I trusted him.
I neglected to factor in the cost of towing… My bad.
man A distributor cap costs around $9.00
I have replaced them on my toyota, volvo, plymouth champ,
There isn’t even screws or bolts on them most of the time
they just have two spring clips on either side you just flip off witha screwdriver
I have never been rich enough to pay for someone to fix my car
My brother would think I was a fag or something if I coulndn’t
replace the clutch in my car or bleed brakes.
Most car guys are semi honest but they have to make a living so
what they charge has more to do with what they owe vs. what it costs to do
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