my Buick Century (2002-2004)

Well, as I promised earlier, I began to make my way down to Anderson Monday to purchase the much-desired KITH box set. But...somewhere just outside of Seneca, the car started steaming up. :car:

I was sure it must be leaking water again, so I nudged it over all the way to the Wal-Mart SuperStarDestroyer Center to purchase some water and wait for it to cool down enough to rescue from overheating. While there, I bumped into my uncle Heath, and we both decided to try and wait for the engine to cool. When we finally got the cap off, the tank of water was full. It was then that we noticed the fan belt, or more appropriately, where the fan belt should have been, but wasn't.

It stood to reason that the end of the fan belt was the start of my problems, so my uncle suggested that I try and get it home before the car shut down completely. Needless to say, with the luck I was having, the car up and died not a few feet from the Super-Duper Center, on a farm-surrounded highway with a convenince store not too far away, by driving standards. By walking standards, it was straight out of "Lawerence of Arabia". I left a message on my uncle's answering machine (seeing as he had left before me and was well on his way back home) with the convenience store phone and made the journey back to my coffin of heat and perspiration.

Here's where I'd like to commend the spirit of community, the alturistic good-nature of my fellow man, all those wonderful souls who stopped to see how I was...all two of them (including my unc, who stopped by to pick me up). To be fair, I doubt anyone would've been able to help me get the car out of there, but it still would've been nice to see some attempts to see if I, a fellow traveler, was alright.

I finally got out of that hellhole (subsiding on a lukewarm Coke and the bottled water I had gotten for my car) and was able to get the car towed later in the afternoon. I was so dehydrated, I'm still shaking a little bit. And the end result of all this?

My car, a 1986 Buick Century which (I was assured) would last a good few years, barely made to two under my watch. It's dead, kaput, it has ceased to be. If I hadn't nailed it to the perch, it'd be pushing up the daisies...

The engine could be fixed, to be fair, by having another one put in, and a new transmission as well, but that costs more than it's worth. After much discussion, it seems that (until I can get a reasonably priced car either used or new) I'm up shit creek without a paddle, and the rapids are coming up around the bend.

So it is back to bumming rides to work, I guess (which stinks real bad, because I was gonna start looking around for a different job). It's been a lousy week, and it's only Tuesday...

3 years? That's not much of a century .....................oops............that's not funny...................I'll get my coat.....

Seriously, having car problems at your stage sucked for me too. Hopefully the town you live in is small enough to make getting around in fairly tolerable. I was lucky enough, at times, to be able to use a company car for those periods when my older car was kaput, so I managed to get through those periods alright, though I did miss two concerts in all that time: Gang Of Four, in 1984 (why is that song by them, A Man With A Good Car, now running through my head), and White Stripes in 2002. I'm still living today :)

Question is: did you get at least some satisfaction today by getting the KITH, or was all of your dough blown on the towing deductible? Good luck at any rate in the future.

Originally posted by Green 3 years? That's not much of a century .....................oops............that's not funny...................I'll get my coat.....Seriously, having car problems at your stage sucked for me too. Hopefully the town you live in is small enough to make getting around in fairly tolerable. I was lucky enough, at times, to be able to use a company car for those periods when my older car was kaput, so I managed to get through those periods alright, though I did miss two concerts in all that time: Gang Of Four, in 1984 (why does is that song by them, A Man With A Good Car, now running through my head), and White Stripes in 2002. Still living today :)Question is: did you get at least some satisfaction today by getting the KITH, or was all of your dough blown on the towing deductible? Good luck at any rate in the future.

Still no KITH...and considering how much time there might be before I get another one, it might be cheaper just to get it off Amazon and get it sent to me. :(

I'm just taking a guess here, but your uncle's not a mechanic, is he?

'Cuz his advice killed your car. Dead, kaput, it has ceased to be. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it'd be pushing up the daisies...

It kind of reminds me of when the radiator (or something in the engine) of my mother's car kind of exploded a few years ago as she was driving home, through one of the ghettos of Philadelphia, from a doctor's appointment. I remember the hood popping up, steam coming from the engine and into the car, and water or oil or some liquid dripping from the engine once the car stopped. We did stop in front of a convenience store, but no one helped us. Rather, in order to find a phone, my mother and I had to walk a block to find a pay phone, while my sister stayed with the car. Although it did get fixed, we had to walk back home, through that neighborhood to ours, which took over an hour, since neither my mother or sister had bus fare and I only had school tokens, which were useless after 5pm. Mostly, until the car got fixed, I had to take the bus everywhere, which wasn't a tragedy, but used up too many of my tokens. But, without any public transportation, I would've been screwed. I probably wouldn't have gone to school, which would've been no tragedy, since I was bored through most of high school, anyway. I do hope you find something, other than bumming a ride, until you can get another car.

Trev,

I feel your pain. The motor in my truck suffered deadly internal damage last November. It was a '97 F-150 with 145K on the odo. I had it hauled to CarMax and damned if they didn't scratch a check for $2K for a non-running vehicle.

I'm not saying you'll get the same. But,if they know you want to buy a car from them, maybe they'll sweeten the pot.

Good luck!

sorry to hear about your car troubles. i have the same shit happening to my cars too. my first car was an 89 chevy celebrity station wagon. fuel injector went out followed shortly by the transmission. second car was an 88 maxima. transmission once again. 3rd car is a 92 olds achieva. its a good car, but it knows when i have money cause something will go wrong and ill have to get it fixed. good luck to you. if you buy another used car, look for old people in the suburbs who are selling. most dont drive like shit and take care of the car right away if something goes wrong.