Car Problems

Does anyone know a lot about cars?? I need some advice before I take it to get fixed this week and get raped for like $ 600.
😢

Describe what is going on with it, please and thank you. $ 600.00 *smh*

It's a 2002 Saturn L200....no problems ever until now. I love that stupid plastic microwave car. 😛
I just hit 90K miles, so this is probably why I'm starting to have problems.

Anyways it started idling rough, and kept getting worse...so I took it to a friend who's a mechanic and has one of those Snap-on diagnostic computer thingys (Idk what they're really called) and it read a misfire in cylinder 1.

So he's like oh that's cake, just go buy new spark plugs and I'll put them in for you......didn't work.
Then he was like well then it's definitely your coil...we'll just replace that. Didn't work. 😢

SO then he researched it a little and was like positive he found the problem.....I can't remember what he said he tried this time but IT DIDN'T WORK. booo 😢

I just kept driving it...because my normal mechanic is slammed since Saturn shut down, and he told me I would have to leave it there at least a week. I really can't do that right now, I have work & school...and a very erratic schedule at that.

NOW this morning, the Serpentine belt broke. Probably because the fan was constantly running due to the stupid misfire problem. FML

Any ideas what else it could possibly be?
I'm going to lose my mind. I don't need this right now.

could be in the conputer could cost a few quid to replace.

shit. 😢 That's what I'm worried about personally.

(The compressions fine btw.)

I'm just going to sell it if that's the case. I have like $ 400 left on the loan for it too.

THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT

I feel like breaking something.

Someone lend me their face? Good friends? Anyone? Lol

I'm leaving in like 8 months to finish school.....like 6 hours from home. I won't know anyone.

Prez of the IFF right now. Lol (Jersey Shore, you like that?)

They checked all the filters too? Sometimes an air filter will cause a vehicle to run poorly. I fret over cars when they do that. It seems like they go to hell fast. One problem after another.

Yeah I just had a tune up like 6 months ago. This is what pisses me off...

GACK!

😢 fuck

I paid like $ 7000 for it in 2006.
It's worth like $ 5000 retail...but private party you're only going to get like $ 3500 if lucky.

Plus, it's had body work because I was rear-ended.

have your friend change the fuel filter the petro filter.

Haha the guy I'm taking it to is a friend of my dad's... he has a shop like 20 minutes away. He's fixed my car before for pretty cheap. So hopefully it will be the same. This is just really ghey. :/

Posted by james tate
have your friend change the fuel filter the petro filter.

We tried that. 😢

Lol @ Honda. Get real 😛

He's not my mechanic, he's a friend. He actually tows now...but he was a mechanic in NY. He mostly just worked on Hondas actually. He's always telling me the same thing. Ha.

I don't really know what all this means, lol, so excuse me if I sound dumb.
At first it only shook when idling, now it also does it when you're de-accelerating -about when you drop below 1000 RPM I guess.

:/

& the fan would kick on almost immediately and ran constantly....
Also, it used to shake less when you turned the air on oddly enough.

Can I just bring it to you? Lol

My dad's friend is pretty reasonable. I think my Libra's gonna switch out the belt for me today and drive it down there for me instead of having it towed and paying $ 100+ for that bullshit.

So you don't think it's anything serious where it's going to cost me hundreds of dollars??

Lol right?

Yea you're friend should have done a FULL DIAGNOSTIC rather than just throwing out the first message that the diagnostic tool spat out at him.

What you say the idle was rough, how rough was rough? And when you tried to gas her, was she accelerating well enough or did it seem slower than what you were putting on the pedal?

Really hard to say without feeling her out. It could be anything from filters to something gunking up the engine.

Posted by brianafay
Does anyone know a lot about cars?? I need some advice before I take it to get fixed this week and get raped for like $ 600.
😢

I need my car fixed too actually 😢 But I must wait to get the extra money. When I stop at the redlight, it shakes a little. I just had a new pulley put in because the other snapped ... which happened after I was getting new brakes.

And no, I don't know anything about cars Briana :/ I wish I did.

Posted by cappysweetie

Posted by brianafay
Does anyone know a lot about cars?? I need some advice before I take it to get fixed this week and get raped for like $ 600.
😢

I need my car fixed too actually 😢 But I must wait to get the extra money. When I stop at the redlight, it shakes a little. I just had a new pulley put in because the other snapped ... which happened after I was getting new brakes.

click to expand

Like the whole care vibrates when you come to a stop?

Posted by VirgoHero

Posted by cappysweetie

Posted by brianafay
Does anyone know a lot about cars?? I need some advice before I take it to get fixed this week and get raped for like $ 600.
😢

I need my car fixed too actually 😢 But I must wait to get the extra money. When I stop at the redlight, it shakes a little. I just had a new pulley put in because the other snapped ... which happened after I was getting new brakes.

Like the whole care vibrates when you come to a stop?

click to expand

Yes. Almost like it wants to cut off but it won't. It's not a harsh vibration but I do feel it and it's not just because the car is in motion, that I do know.

You all know what I did when mine went on the fritz... but, I realize Briana that is not always an option and you were probably looking forward to no more car payments. But, you are nearing 100K and at this point it is going to nickle and dime you to death. Sorry I can't give you better advice.

If you do go for another one, have your dad's friend check and clear any codes before you go to the dealer. And look online at what is out there so they are not trying to steer you in one way or the other on a vehicle. Have multiple you're planning on looking at from multiple dealers (even if same model) and play them against each other.

The way I played it when I decided on mine was I first talked them down on the price and told them I wasn't sure if I wanted to trade my car in or give it to my daughter. Then I told them, I probably would trade my car in, but I wanted them to qualify me for the loan and tell me what my car payments would be if I didn't trade it or put anything down and we would work from there (I wanted to know my starting point). I also had them provide me monthly payments for different loan terms (different terms carry different percentage rates). Then, and only then, would I let them check out my trade-in. I had done my research before hand so I also knew what the ball park figure was from Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) - knowing what I needed to put into my car and what they offered I was happy otherwise I would have pushed for further negotiation on what they were giving me. However, I played the monthly payment card at that point... "what will it take to get my payment below $ $ $ " (it wasn't a big amount, but, none-the-less). They reduced my interest by another percentage point to get me where I wanted to be. I did also go with an extended warranty, which I realize is a bonus for the dealer, but that is also negotiable and it ended up only costing me an extra $ 720 over the length of the loan for an additional 3yr bumper to bumper warranty.

(my last car I pulled the, I know the true market value on the one I'm buying [from Edmonds.com] and I know what you'll sell my trade in for - I walked out because they wouldn't give me what I wanted, of course, the manager grabbed me before exiting. In the end I paid what I wanted for the new car AND got what I wanted on my trade in at the promotional interest rate to boot of 1.9% ).

IDK, I don't think car salesman/dealers like me very much. (although my last one emails me daily ;

Posted by LovelyScorp
hey brianafay,

guess who taught me how to drive the saturn with the stick shift.

WHO?

I could work on the old ones but the ones built after about 1970 I give up

Lol girls do drive stick better 😛

Lol

Oh my....

lovley scrop you could come to my place I will lay on my back and you can pratice shifting

Yes, careful you don't slip into 5th gear too quickly and strip the gears. I hear the repair bill is hefty.

VirgoHero didn't even answer my car question 😢

😛!!! @ him

The Sunshine State will never the same.... my poor oranges. 😄

I was thinking of Bri tearing up the highway in her new monster tar chomper. 🙂
'Yes friends and neighbors, whether at work or play our blonde heroine can certainly eat up the miles.' Vroom, vroom.

🙂 She'll definitely be burning rubber. I can see her sneering at someone at a stop light and gunning the gas.

And speaking of our intrepid adventurer, she hasn't been on much. I hope the mighty wheels of fury didn't gasp their last somewhere. Now I'm going to worry. :/

Posted by k-mart
lol hey briana lets pull the motor out and stuff a monster big block in it, so you can wheelie!

Lol let's do it special-k

(just saw this) Haha VB 😄

Libra & my dad switched out the belt...but I still gotta take it to someone to get fixed. Libra noticed one of the motor mounts is broken which probably contributed to the shaking but still doesn't explain the misfire.

I'm waiting till tomorrow since I don't work over the weekend for once.

😄

Well at least you're getting somewhere with it. Broken motor mount, uck.

^^ 69th post. You slinky little.... 😛