Car Issues

A week and a half ago, on Wednesday was a good yet bad day. The good part was my daughter had a baby boy. She's our baby.. and now she has a baby. How times change!

On the same day, the heater went out in our house. By the time I figured it out my husband was at work a distance away. When he was finished he drove home to fix it in his truck, and walked in chuckling when he saw me, still in bed for warmth, with down comforters and a coat plus another blanket wrapped around me. It had been at the time, the coldest day of the year.

He got in my car to go buy parts to fix the heater and the car would not start. Nothing. It got towed to the Dodge dealer for repairs. This was the third or fourth time that it would not start when the tempurature was below freezing. As soon as it gets a bit above freezing the car starts. They said it was a blown engine fuse and works fine now. I pointed out that fuses don't reset themselves nor do they change themselves when it's warm but they insisted this was the fix. I picked my car up and brought it home only to have it not start the very next morning.

After a week and a half they are unable to duplicate the problem. My guess is because it's been above freezing when they come in to work. The second time it came back they had it towed back in not me. I could have had it towed free with Triple A. They had me pick it up yesterday and tried to charge me for the tow and that didn't fly too well.

It's frustrating because I have no clue what is wrong with my car. It's clear that it has to not start during certain hours. One thought of taking it home so he could start it first thing in the very cold morning but if he did he'd have to have it towed back and they didn't want to do that. So, they recognize there is an issue.

Then, there's the steering. It's started this wierd new thing. When the car is moving it turns fine. When I try to back out of a parking space for example, it feels like it's 'catching'... as in the car moves, pauses, moves, pauses. So, I asked for them to check the power steering. They say it steers fine and this 'catch' that I feel is normal due to the way the tires are made to sit. Uhm... then why has it never done this glitch thing until recently?? It makes it difficult and unsafe to try and get in or out of tight situations.

I picked it up yesterday and mats were turned, a broken pen was tossed on the floor, the radio station changed and for me, changing anything can be an issue, even the trash holder that hangs in the BACK.. no where near the ignition or anything had even been messed with and not put back right.

I drive with hand controls. This is the only car I can use. So to have it not work correctly and reliably is not only an annoyance but a safety issue. To have things changed, for example the radio, then I have to wait for a red light to put it back on to the station I listen to. This is always the time I get all green lights! If I need to put something in the trash, I need it to open and close in the brief time of a red light. That means it's set up within reach and I know, without the need to look how it hangs. Mess with that and I end up with trash in my lap.

I'm just frustrated because I will need to drive the car and it won't start. I've already dropped over two grand in it for repairs in the past three months. You know, they fix an oil leak and in doing so it creates another oil leak??? Maybe it's time for a new car I just had wanted to get the credit cards paid off first.
Update: Car wouldn't start this morning.. later ... after it warmed up some it did start.