Never Buy a Used Rental Car

Today was the first day of my new twice-weekly schedule of renting a car to drive into my work's Chicago office. I've driven Fords for the past 20 years so when I do rent cars, I spent the first 15 minutes trying to figure out how everything works.

Today's rental was a 2009 Nissan Altima with .5 miles (not a typo -- it had one half of one mile on it). The rental car guy told me how to start it (step on the brake and push the start button), but he didn't mention there was anything out of the norm about the gear shifter.

I put it in drive -- take a close look at the photo above. The shifter moves down and then to the left and down. I assumed this was some way to lock it into the drive position. So, I pulled out of the airport car rental area, and drove about a mile toward the highway. I could see, hear and smell that the transmission was burning up. It wasn't shifting. I had it up to about 40 mph, the tachometer was up to 6 and still it wasn't shifting out of first.

Before I got onto the highway I stopped, pulled over and called Enterprise and reported the problem. I figured I'd have to go back and get a different car. The rental car guy told me to move the shifter over to the right. Apparently, the right position is for automatic transmission and the left position is for manual transmission.

No where near the shifter did it say anything about automatic vs. manual. And, who's ever heard of a car that has both automatic transmission and manual transmission.

Seems to me like a lot of rental car companies are soon going to be selling very, very low-mileage Nissan Altimas with burned out transmissions.

Still Running After All Those Miles

My 1998 Ford E150 Van turned over 200,000 miles today. I really like this van and am sad to see it start to show signs of aging.

The body was perfect until a couple of unfortunate incidents last year. One dingy woman decided she was tired of waiting for traffic to clear for her left turn so she turned right, right into me. I wasn't even moving. A few months later, I ran into a very short, but very solid cement post and dented in the front bumper.

A few weeks ago, my trusty mechanic told me the van had a leaking head gasket. And, he didn't recommend putting money into it to get it fixed. So, although I don't want a car payment, I don't want to drive anything else, and I sure don't want to go car shopping, I will have to trade in the old van for a new (and hopefully a bit more fuel efficient) vehicle sometime soon.

Is there a new car in my future?

A few months ago, I saw a TV commercial advertising a Ford Escape Hybrid. I did some research online and decided that would be a pretty nice vehicle to drive... especially if I could get it for 0% interest.

I emailed the local dealer to inquire about pricing and financing options. The sales guy replied that I'd have to pay $5K over invoice, wait 4 months and I couldn't get 0% financing.

I said I wasn't interested on those terms. He replied that he'd sell it to me for invoice, but he could not offer the 0% rate. I was still not interested. His final offer was invoice price and 0% and a 4-month wait.

I let him know that, had he been straight with me from the start, we'd be signing paperwork, but I wasn't interested in doing business with someone who was more interested in playing games.

Shortly after that I was visiting my mechanic for some minor work to my van. Their shuttle driver took me to work in a Ford Escape Hybrid. I asked about it and my mechanic said he was buying hybrid vehicles that had been totaled out and he was doing the mechanical repairs and a friend of his was doing the cosmetic work. And, then he would sell the final product. His goal is to become the most knowledgeable hybrid mechanic in the area.

Today when I took my van in for new brakes (I drove to work Monday -- 30 miles @ 65mph -- with my emergency brake on) my mechanic offered me the Ford Escape Hybrid as loaner vehicle.

It has a gauge to display approximate miles per gallon and so far, I've driven 33 miles and used about 1 gallon.

So, depending on what he decides to sell this for... it may be my new car! It's a 2007 with 5,700 miles. I'm not too concerned that it was previously wrecked because I'm buying it from a mechanic that I've trusted for the past 12 years.

Then, after they pick my numbers in the Powerball drawing, I'll get my red Mustang convertible.

Windsheild Wipers Finally Fixed

After a few weeks of windshield wiper problems, I finally found the correct wiper arms, but couldn't figure out how to install them properly. I really tore up the old arms prying them off Tuesday night so Wednesday I worked from home because it was raining.

Thursday I took my van over to Veldman's Service Center and not only did they properly install my wiper arms and my new Rain-X wiper blades; they did it for FREE.

I highly recommend Veldman's Service Center (corner of Mayflower Road and Western Avenue in South Bend). They've taken care of my vehicles for the past 15 or so years. If you go, tell them Sharon sent you. If you get new tires from Veldman's, they will repair any flat you get for free. That comes in handy around the South Bend area where the potholes have caused so many flats this week that the local newspaper made that a front-page story.

I also highly recommend the new Rain-X Latitude Wiper Blades. They're a bit pricey at 17.99 each, but worth every penny. I picked up a new set at Pep Boys in Evansville on Sunday -- buy 1 get 1 free. I should have bought a few sets at that price.

How in the Heck Could This Even Happen???

This morning's temperature was -7 degrees. In the 45 seconds it took me to run out and start my van, the tips of my wet hair froze.

Having read too many stories about cars being stolen as they are left running, I'm always sure to lock the doors.

In the 15 minutes it took me to dry my hair, pack my lunch and get ready to leave for work, my car doors froze shut. The spare key was useless... it wouldn't turn. I tried every door of my van and they were all hopelessly frozen shut.

Now, just 15 minutes before they were not frozen. In those 15 minutes, the van was running (generating heat), and inside the van, the heater was running. With all that heat, how could the locks have frozen???

Thank goodness for Lock De-Icer. Double thanks that it was in my garage, and not in my van.

Wiper Wiper Wiper Blades

Who knew that wiper blade replacement could be so hard???

This summer I paid nearly $50 for a set of Rain-X wiper blades and they were the best set of blades I've ever had.

I've always had an issue with wiper blades making a horrible noise rubbing against my van's windshield and the Rain-X blades were the first I've had that were quiet.

Yesterday they were a caked with ice and I pulled out the driver's side blade arm and flicked it against the windshield to clear it of ice. The ice fell off and so did the end cap that keeps the blade from slipping off.

Today the squirty blue stuff wouldn't squirt out on the driver's side and the passenger side wiper arm's spring sprung so the blade wasn't totally touching the windshield.

So, on my way to work this morning, about half way into South Bend, I got splashed with road slush and was left with two 1" strips of clean windshield. The unfortunate part was one was about 3" above my normal line of vision and the other was about 3" below.

I called around to find replacement wiper arms and NAPA was kind enough to order them in from their Ft. Wayne store and I picked them up after work. While there, I bought some new blades, too.

Tonight, we messed with the wiper arms, blades and squirty stuff for about an hour. The end result is I have squirty stuff again, but no wipers. The wiper blade arms were the wrong size, the blades had the wrong attachments and no adapters.

Tomorrow's drive to work should be fun!

Check out this ode to wiper blade replacement by Heywood Banks.