See The Jeep Saga for background, if you haven't already read it.

Jeep Overheating

At the beginning of October, I began experiencing another problem. In the morning on the way to work I smelled an odd odor, but thought no more of it. Then on the way home I smelled the same odor, and when I glanced at the temperature gauge, I realized that the car had overheated.

In the driveway, I opened up the hood and began pouring in coolant. I noticed a dripping sound, and discovered that the coolant was leaking right out onto the ground. I grabbed a bucket to catch this toxic substance, but there were many different drip-points, so I couldn't catch every drop. The car was very hot, and the coolant bubbled up as it rapidly heated to boiling. I started pouring in water after that, just to get the engine cooled down.

I called Ian's dad that night to see whether he might have any advice about how this could be happening, but he just said "Take it to Imperial Auto", which is where he and Betsy take their Mazda. The next morning I took it to Imperial and they said they'd see what they could do.

When I heard back from them, they said that they were having trouble figuring out where the leak was. They wanted to perform some test, but couldn't do that until the system wasn't leaking anymore. They replaced the water pump and the thermostat, and then had to deliver the bad news that the head gasket was blown. They told me that this would be about $1,000 to fix.

Jeep Death Knell

During the last round of repairs, I'd gotten caught in the bind of slight increments of repair costs driving the acceptance of additional costs (i.e., not wanting to let the money I just spent go to waste by tossing the car). But after spending almost $3,000, even I had the sense that it was time to give up the car.

I talked in great detail with the mechanic to get ideas about what I could do with it. He suggested that I sell it for $500 to someone who likes to fix cars. He said that the part was only about $200, but it was the labor that would cost me so much. I also asked him a lot of questions about what kind of car to get to replace it.

He highly recommended the Honda brand, which was convenient, because Honda is my favorite brand. For about 10 years I had a 1990 Honda Civic which served me quite well. I was inclined to get another Civic stick shift, but maybe a more recent model. The mechanic said that Honda engines typically outlast the bodies. I asked many detailed questions to help me decide exactly which model to get.

The $500 I might be able to get for the Jeep would just cover the bill I'd be paying today for the water pump and thermostat and associated labor. I'd never get back the $3,000 I'd sunk into the Jeep this year. When I told the mechanic how much I'd spent on the Jeep during the time I'd had it (between $5,000 and $6,000), he said that it was way too much. I was starting to get that sense, too.