Today my vehicle reached it's natural, inevitable, and long expected demise. It had a rough 15 year life. I'm kinda relieved it's over. I "won" this POS in my divorce two years ago. I never really wanted it EVER, but my then wife insisted we buy it back in January 2010. The body had been repaired but there was rust underneath and it had a small exhaust leak. I thought the front suspension would fail within a year, but all I ever had to replace was the sway bar linkage. Go figure.
No, the first thing to go was the AC pump. I installed a bypass pully and replaced the serpentine belt and we dealt with the heat from then on. I did several front brake jobs and replaced the rotors once. I only had to do the rear shoes once, but had to replace a wheel cylinder at the same time.
The van was a godsend for my daughter and I at the time of our crisis. That was about the time the rust started creeping up the fenders. Last year the power steering went out and I replaced the pump only to have it blow the seals on the rack & pinion steering. Parts alone would have cost $250 so, I've been developing my forearms since.
Then the transmission started slipping and I was sure it wouldn't last this past winter. Before I could test that theory the brakes went out. I had no idea where the fluid went and when I went to bleed them in single digit temperatures I found that the front right was blocked somehow. When it started to warm up this Spring I determined that the line must have been frozen.
Just as we were getting decent pedal my buddy told me he lost it all and it was on the floor. I looked under and discovered where a tiny imperceptible leak had become a big one. No problem... 3 feet of brake line and a couple of fittings and I was on the road just in time for the season to begin.
Today started like every other for the past month... The transmission slipped in and out until it got warmed up. It made the 30 minute drive to work one last time. Nothing seemed different most of the way back until I was a mile or two from home.
That's when something catastrophic happened. I'm not sure I even care what blew. It might be the exhaust manifold or maybe a spark plug stripped and shot out... Whatever it is, my 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan now sounds like a 1930s era Massey Ferguson tractor. I'm done wasting time and money on it.
Naturally my old friend Dick offered to lend me money at 30% interest. I told him where he and his greed could go. He'd been behaving so well for the past two weeks until I told him I wouldn't be able to make it to work tomorrow...
I've got $902 in the bank after my landlord cashes the rent check. I asked him if he could hold off for a couple weeks on that, but he seemed reluctant so I dropped it. I've built a good reputation with him in the last two years and don't want to wreck it. I should be able to get $350 from the junkyard for the van if I can get them to come tow it away tomorrow. I called in a debt which will put another hundred in my hand to get plates transfered in a few days. I've got another guy who owes me $320, but I'm not going to see that money any time soon. I've been checking out cars on Craig'slist and responded to a couple of ads slightly over my projected budget. I'm hoping to talk 'em down a bit. Need to stretch my dollars if I can.
I put my feelers out on Facebook too just in case someone knows of a good deal around. Not sure what else I can do except come in here and gripe about it. Hope y'all don't mind.