07.18.09
My Car is Trying is give me a Heart Attack
This past weekend, while I was out entertaining a nice-looking, large boobied gal, my faithful squire Isuzu Rodeo decided to dump me and the girl in the middle of Miami Beach’s vice city streets. Luckily for me, my female friend was a South American tourist who uses public buses in her native country and therefore wasn’t pissed when we had to take a cab. If she had been raised in the good ‘ol U.S. of A., her eyes would’ve popped out in anger.
After towing the car to my trustworthy mechanic in Hialeah (yes, such thing does exist), it turns out that the car needed a new alernator. It might have been damaged by water during the heavy rains South Florida experiences in the summer. It doesn’t help that the alternator is located more than a feet lower than the battery is. The following day, I took the battery to a local Autozone store for a recharging. According to the store guy, the battery almost exploded and started leaking. I checked the battery and noticed that the manufacturing date was 2005, which means it was pretty old. Miraculously, the battery was not made in China, but in Ohio. Long live American industrialism.
Two days later, a central rotator which moves all the belt broke off. In the process, the alternator belt which was also old, snapped. My mechanic told me the rotator’s exact name in Spanish (it’s Hialeah), which I have no clue how to translate. Supposedly, these artifacts fall off due to old age. Don’t forget that my car is 96′ model. After everything, the total cost for parts and repairs was around $400.
Mind you, in the three years that I’ve had the Isuzu, the only big repair it had done was changing the time belt and the usual oil changes and tune-ups. Likewise, I consistently check water and oils; plus I don’t race on the highway. As a matter of fact I prefer driving between 40-50 mph. If I’m driving at night, I don’t turn on the A/C. Personally, I wouldn’t mind taking public transportation if it fits with my schedule. Unfortunately, Miami’s public transit sytem is mostly a joke, especially if you live in areas like Kendall or Hialeah. Last but not least, I hping to learn a few things from a cousin who just got his mechanic’s certificate, so I can repair stuff on my own in the future.
