Auto woes continue

It never rains but it pours …

So the insurance company figured out how much El Caballero was worth (not much – it was an 11-year-old economy car well into its second 100,000 miles) before it got totaled, subtracted the deductible, and will be sending us a check for far less than will buy a replacement used car. We’ll have to wait until I’m bringing in paychecks in the fall (unless I find a summer job) to get another vehicle.

Meanwhile, hot weather is hard on cars. We had an appointment for the Babe at the Ford dealer Monday, but it was so busy that it was Tuesday before the mechanics could even get it plugged into the diagnostic computer, which indicated a vacuum leak somewhere in the fuel system. But a full diagnosis won’t be made until the drivetrain mechanic has a chance to look at it, which won’t be until Friday. We have no idea how long it will be before the actual repairs can be made.

In addition, the Miata is still waiting for new tires to come in at the tire shop, and now its “Service Engine” warning light has come on. Since the same dealership handles both Ford and Mazda, our original thought was that we could save hassle: When the Babe got fixed, we could drop off the Miata at the Mazda end of the lot and walk over to the Ford end to pick up the Babe. However, the Mazda shop is even more swamped than the Ford shop, so the soonest we could get an appointment for the Miata was in nearly two weeks. It will probably get the new tires before it gets the service. At least the service advisor at the Mazda shop said it is probably OK to drive the Miata in light-duty service so long as the light remains steadily on – if it starts blinking, we should park the car until our appointment.

So it looks like we’ll be renting a car again for this weekend. (The rental car agency with the best prices is not at the Ford dealership, but at the Chevy dealership a few blocks up the street.) We don’t have racing scheduled, but Heron Lake State Park is having its annual Osprey Fest, and the sailing club will have a booth there. We’ll be handing out brochures about the club’s activities, and since the area we’ve been assigned for our booth is next to a courtesy dock, we can have a couple of boats on display – maybe even let people have fun on a couple of the Sunfish.

Dulce, however, will not have the privilege of riding in the land yacht this weekend. We’ll be picking up Tadpole from Scout camp, which entails having dinner and attending the closing campfire, and it wouldn’t be practical to leave her in the car for several hours. She’ll just have to be home alone.