It's Alive!!!!
Well there is good news on the car front. The Toyota is alive again and hopefully going to last another 6+ months. I'll tell you how we got it fixed and the great deal we got on the price of the repairs further down the post.
This whole weekend was full of stress around the car, looking for a potential new(er) car, most of the time with Isaiah in tow. It was a little cumbersome switching out the car seat for each and every test drive we took, but it was really great to get an understanding of how much more room some of the vehicles have. If we had to get a newer car this month we probably would've tried to pick up a year or two used Hyundai Sante Fe mini SUV. I was surprised with how nice it drove and looked inside and it had a ton of great features (like a V6, sunroof and heated seats for our eventual trips up north) for under $17,000. So when we do have a bit more money, and I have a full time job again, we will probably try to pick one up.
As for the Toyota, on a whim Monday morning I googled the problem we were having since the mechanic told us what was wrong with it. It turns out way back in 2003, Toyota had a settlement with the EPA regarding the emissions systems for pretty much all 1996-1998 Toyotas. It wasn't a recall, but rather an extension of the warranty on the emissions system to 14 years/150,000 miles. Since Rachel bought the car used, she never got the notice in 2003 and I was supremely lucky to find it on the web. So I called Toyota Corporate to verify the warranty, double checked the serial numbers on the car to see if they matched (They did) and got an appointment with the local Toyota Dealer. Little more than an hour ago we picked up the car, completely fixed, at NO CHARGE. That's right folks completely free. Thanks for all your prayers, because I swear they helped. You want to hear the best part? Rachel's car is 12 years old and has 148,100 miles on it, so we beat out the warranty by only 1,900 miles. If this happened maybe a month from now we wouldn't be so lucky.
I think Isaiah and Rachel are a little bummed about not getting a new car (and I am too to some extent) but I'm just happy we don't have a timeline over our looming heads to do it right now.
This whole weekend was full of stress around the car, looking for a potential new(er) car, most of the time with Isaiah in tow. It was a little cumbersome switching out the car seat for each and every test drive we took, but it was really great to get an understanding of how much more room some of the vehicles have. If we had to get a newer car this month we probably would've tried to pick up a year or two used Hyundai Sante Fe mini SUV. I was surprised with how nice it drove and looked inside and it had a ton of great features (like a V6, sunroof and heated seats for our eventual trips up north) for under $17,000. So when we do have a bit more money, and I have a full time job again, we will probably try to pick one up.
As for the Toyota, on a whim Monday morning I googled the problem we were having since the mechanic told us what was wrong with it. It turns out way back in 2003, Toyota had a settlement with the EPA regarding the emissions systems for pretty much all 1996-1998 Toyotas. It wasn't a recall, but rather an extension of the warranty on the emissions system to 14 years/150,000 miles. Since Rachel bought the car used, she never got the notice in 2003 and I was supremely lucky to find it on the web. So I called Toyota Corporate to verify the warranty, double checked the serial numbers on the car to see if they matched (They did) and got an appointment with the local Toyota Dealer. Little more than an hour ago we picked up the car, completely fixed, at NO CHARGE. That's right folks completely free. Thanks for all your prayers, because I swear they helped. You want to hear the best part? Rachel's car is 12 years old and has 148,100 miles on it, so we beat out the warranty by only 1,900 miles. If this happened maybe a month from now we wouldn't be so lucky.
I think Isaiah and Rachel are a little bummed about not getting a new car (and I am too to some extent) but I'm just happy we don't have a timeline over our looming heads to do it right now.
Comments
love in Christ,
Mat and Malia Lehnertz
According to MY research on it since it's a matter of Emissions Control, thankfully Minnesota DOES NOT have emissions testing & regulation that's enforcible. I have two options for my car - Either I can disable & cross-circuit the aft O2 sensor just behind the Catalytic Converter, or else I can continually replacing them every 6 to 12 months at a cost of $140 a pop!!! (NOT something I want to drop coin on regularly!!!)
God DEFINITELY answers prayers, and we'll continue to pray :)
love in Christ,
Mat and Malia Lehnertz