Car Trouble Conclusion (Hopefully)
So it turns out the front right brake pad was essentially gone and one of the back brake pads was nearly gone. The front right pad having being gone caused serious damage to the rotor such that the mechanic couldn’t legally let us drive it without making repairs – not that we planned to. So in the end we got 4 new brake pads and had to replace the front right rotor.
How much of this did JJ cover? Half the cost of one brake pad. It barely counts as a gesture. Frankly I’m disappointed in them. On principal I don’t think I’ll buy from them again in the future but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t – just get that safety inspection before purchasing. If we hadn’t been so poor on time we would have done so but we were in a somewhat urgent need – never a good way to buy a car. And even though the free inspection is with a company they have a relationship with I would trust it. The repair place didn’t even seem to completely understand their relationship with JJ and the communication between the two was very poor which is bad on a professional business customer service level but is a good sign that they’re not in collusion.
In the end it cost us over $200.
Hopefully the major issues with this car are done with for at least a year. I’m perfectly willing to shell out some dough to maintain my ride in a year or so but other than fluids I don’t want to have to put a dime into this vehicle until at least the beginning of winter; particularly since I hope to take it on the minibreak soon and perhaps a full-fledged road trip to California in the fall.
Now as for names it hasn’t been the smooth sailing I had hoped for. I mean, it seemed a no-brainer to me at first: Sideswipe. He was cool, red, and an autobot – win-freaking-win. A Lamborghini with a jet pack, come on! It turns out however that my girlfriend has been sideswiped. Then I suggested Cliffjumper. Not as cool but tended to get more dialogue and again, a red autobot. Apparently there is something wrong with car names that describe potentially fatal accidents. She’s really tied my hands here. She suggested an autobot that hadn’t even been on television! I’m not going to name my car after some dumb toy – I’m going to name it after a cartoon character, I have my self respect after all. Plus the name she suggested was a semi-major character on 24, even the suggestion confused me. So my top two choices rejected I had to get creative.
Optimus Prime or Rhodimus Prime would just be the height of arrogance – for one thing how could I dare name a used car after them? It’d be unconscionable.
Hot Rod would have to be a sports car and much as I like our car, a sports car it isn’t. At the very least it would have to be more of a cherry red.
Ironhide could work but could cause confusion due to the new movies.
(I would also like to take a moment to once again officially object to Jon naming his green Elantra Mirage – he should have been Hound or Springer but I digress.)
It looked like I was going to have to relax the idea of it being a car. This put Perceptor and Blaster into play.
Given the surprise aftermarket 6-disc changer we found in the truck after driving the car home for the first time, something the dealership didn’t even seem to know about; Blaster seemed a more natural choice.
Any thoughts?
March 5th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Well all my cars have been named by Josh, so if you want an approved name, you’ll have to go to him. He called the Elantra Mirage because of how I drove it, not so much that it was anywhere like an Indy car. Now onto suggestions for the name of your car: Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, Skids, Smokescreen, Blurr, Gears, Outback, and Swerve. That’s just the Autobots. Decepticon suggestions: Thunderwing, Sunstorm, Rainmakers, Ravage, Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Overkill, Squawkbox, Long Haul (my fave), Wildrider, Vortex, Flywheels, Runabout, Octane, and Blitzwing.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Josh named all your cars? Well kudos to him for Jazz. I loved that car.
Sunstreaker - I’m saving this for my first yellow car that isn’t boxy (which would then be Bumblebee of course). Although he is Sideswipe’s brother…I DO like the name…
Long Haul? Really? It does tend to evoke images of roadtrips but it also evokes images of freighters.
Runabout? People would think it a sad, sad DS9 reference. Oooooh. Maybe I could name the car after a runabout? Retroactively name the old car Ganges and name the new one Rio Grande…
Blitzwing is also a cool name, I’ll grant you that.
So I take it you’re not in support of Blaster?
March 5th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Not so much. I’ll give you that Runabout does make me think DS9 and sunstreaker should probably be a yellow car, but when on earth are you going to own a bright yellow car? I do like naming it Ganges though.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Yea, soon as I posted my comment I was like “but when the hell am I going to own a yellow car? What exactly am I saving Sunstreaker for?” Besides it could make a good story “I wanted to name it Sideswipe but she thought it was a bad omen so we went with his brother”. Also Sunstreaker was pretty vain, overly protective of his paint job if memory serves and I plan to be pretty anal about keeping this car clean.
I wouldn’t name the new(er) car Ganges, it was the first to be destroyed and I don’t even think it lasted a full year - which makes it an appropriate name for the old car. No, I’d name the new one Rio Grande in the hopes that it’ll last forever.
Should we get Josh’s thoughts on this or does he have to ride in the vehicle before the naming ceremony? I could upload a picture to facebook or something.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
[...] cowmanx placed an observative post today on Car Trouble Conclusion (Hopefully)Here’s a quick excerptCar Trouble Conclusion (Hopefully) So it turns out the front right brake pad was essentially gone and one of the back brake pads was nearly gone. The front right pad having being gone caused serious damage to the rotor such that the mechanic couldnât legally let us drive it without making repairs â not that we planned to. So in t… Read the full post from Grazing Rites Tags: Economics via Blogdigger blog search for Road Trip Planning. [...]
March 19th, 2009 at 8:47 am
[...] cowmanx placed an observative post today on Car Trouble Conclusion (Hopefully)Here’s a quick excerptCar Trouble Conclusion (Hopefully) So it turns out the front right brake pad was essentially gone and one of the back brake pads was nearly gone. The front right pad having being gone caused serious damage to the rotor such that the mechanic couldnât legally let us drive it without making repairs â not that we planned to. So in t… Read the full post from Grazing Rites Tags: Economics via Blogdigger blog search for How to Sail. [...]