Repairs - That’s Much Better!
That’s right. I needed repairs done from the get-go; that’s just how it goes when you buy old vehicles. I probably shouldn’t have waited as long as I did to take my van in, but honestly, I’m glad I waited for Oregon’s no sales tax lol! I took Anahata in on Tuesday and the mechanic (a real honest fellow) told me that my tie rods were in such terrible condition that I shouldn’t be driving the van at all. $500 to replace all 6 tie rods in the front of the vehicle. While he was replacing them he said the upper right ball joint was awful too. He seemed really sorry to tell me that, so I had him replace that as well. My engine had been stuttering too, so I had him take a look. It’s $70 just for him to get into the engine! He found a clogged spark plug and replaced it. $715 total with an oil change! It was worth it though because my van is getting much better gas milage and isn’t so wanky to drive. The van was pulling to the right pretty badly before.
He told me that I should get it aligned VERY soon so I called up the local Les Schwab to see if they had time and I brought it to them an hour before they closed. The mechanic here took a look and then told me that the lower right ball joint would have to be replaced for him to align properly, which would cost an extra $100 on top on the $50 alignment. He said I could bring it back the next day to get all the work done. I didn’t really like his attitude about the whole thing, so I told him that I;m travelling south and won’t be around. The van was aligned poorly before the tie rods were replaced, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt too much to go a bit further. I schedule an appointment at a Les Schwab in Roseburg for Thursday morning. (Les Schwab had the lowest price for alignments and are consistently right off the highway.) The mechanic in Roseburg was MUCH nicer. He didn’t say anything about the ball joint needing replacement. He even test drove it after he aligned it and when it was still pulling to the right, he swapped the front tires!
Yup! Anahata is driving much smoother now! I’m still a bit nervous to take her on some of the more mountainous highways though. I’ll wait and see what happens as I continue down to LA to determine how much I should rely.
