The $388 oil change

I should have known the gods were against me. They were warning me that taking the car in for an oil change was not going to be pretty.

It began last Tuesday.

The "plan" was to drop the car off at the Mazda dealership, walk the kids over to the mall, and hang out there until the oil change was done. When I arrived at the dealership, someone had parked right in front of the service door, so I couldn't just run in really quickly, hand 'em the keys, and then get the kids. I had to unload the kids, the stroller and the bags only to get up to the door and see the sign that read, "Service has moved up the road to 1234 Packupallyourshitandtryitagain Road." Suffice it to say I was not happy. So I packed up all my shit and tried it again, down the road where the new service department was relocated.

I pulled into the garage and asked for an oil change. I was told that all the technicians were in the process of moving their tools and "stuff" to this new service department and that I couldn't get an oil change. Now it used to be that the dealership would take appointments for everything, including oil changes, but sometime ago they had stopped this practice. If the practice was still in place, I would have called and learned all this via phone. Instead I had packed up half my house only to find out my "plan" for the day was screwed.

Ok, so I asked if I could get an oil change on Friday. The guy assured me this wouldn't be a problem. So I called Friday morning and was told they were still in the process of moving tools and whatnot but they would be ready to go by Monday.

I didn't call yesterday because that would be pushing my luck. I called today and got an appointment for an oil change (Hooray!). I desperately needed my windshield wipers replaced too. I had a coupon for a $25 oil change and $9.99 tire rotation, so I thought I'd get out of there around or possibly even under $50.

But no. I seem to be on an unlucky streak of late in all matters concerning money. The service guy called and said my battery was about ready to die and that my coolant system was on the fritz. PLUS, my front swaybar links and bushings are loose and my rear shocks are leaking. D had been complaining of my car making noises, and the swaybar and shocks appear to be the cause of the sound.

Since I don't want to be stuck anywhere with a dead battery with 2 kids, I told him to replace the battery. And go ahead and do the coolant thing since he promised it wouldn't take too long. He told me he would talk to me about the other stuff when I came to pick up my car (he would have to order the parts so he couldn't do it today anyway).

Back at the service counter I forked over $388 for the oil change, wiper blades, coolant flush and new battery. And the swaybar and rear shocks: those are gonna cost $493 and $537, respectively. SHOCK(s) indeed!!!!

So let's see. In September, we spent $500+ on D's car repairs. In October, D bought new glasses, which was $434. And November, we're looking at $1400 in car repairs on my vehicle. I keep trying to put money away, but this fall has been kicking my savings plan's ass. Oh, and my washing machine needed a part that cost us about $75. And G is likely gonna need tubes, so I don't even want to think about how many hundreds (or thousands) that is gonna cost us.

Hell, even if I wanted to take up a drinking habit, I don't have any extra cash to put towards the purchase of spirits.