Eclipse paid off! Now pay up.

I was overjoyed to have scheduled my final payment on my Eclipse. After sixty payments, I was really looking forward to having that extra chunk of change added to my bank account every month for awhile, at least until I felt it was time to finally move on from the car of my “youth”. 😉

Well, today was the day to take it in for an inspection. I knew that the passenger-side front wheel bearing was on it’s way out, and I told the mechanic that. He called me up a little while later to confirm that was indeed the case. It would be three hundred some dollars to replace it, which I knew since the rear assembly was replaced last inspection.

A little while after that, he called back to let me know they were having quite a bit of trouble getting the hub to separate from the axle, and they might have to whack it with a big stick.

A little while after that, he called back and asked me to come down to the garage. This is never a good thing unless preceeded by the phrase, “Your car is ready”. I got down there and he showed me the problem they were facing. Really, he didn’t show me anything different than what he said on the phone, but he I guess he just wanted me to see that they weren’t making it all up. I’m not a mechanic, but I know a bit of car tech, and as far as mechanics go, I trust this guy more than any other mechanic I’ve dealt with in the past. I would have taken his word for it, but it’s nice to see the problem in person. He had already spent a little while tracking down a new axle spindle to replace the old, which he said was a difficult part to track down, but he had one on the way. Back home I went.

A few hours after that, he called back very depressed sounding, again failing to offer up the phrase I wanted to hear. Instead, he said the part he received is the wrong one (and the only one they had available) and he spent close to four hours on the phone trying to track down a used or remanufactured one to no avail. We had reached worst case scenario status – ordering a new one through the dealer. This of course means the part itself is in the $400 range. More than what would have been next month’s car payment. That, to me, isn’t the worst part. The worst part is that I’m going to be without my car for a few days, because it’s not a part that dealerships typically stock.

Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for Amanda, is that she’s sick and probably not going to work tomorrow. That means I can use her car. My job allows me to work from home if need be, so I have that option as well. Mostly, I’m just hoping that I can avoid having to rent a car for a few days. Looks like I’m already tacking on an extra car payment or two.