All THREE cars incapacitated last weekend... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Blevinsax · #1 06-06-2007, 01:31 PM

I just had to share this extraordinary coincidence...

This past weekend all THREE of our cars were rendered inoperable at the same time!! Unbelievable, huh? Here's the breakdown...

1. MY wife's VW Beetle TDi started having transmission problems Friday afternoon - I called our mechanic and he recommended towing it in just to be safe - would not want to burn out the clutch or something if we cold avoid it. So that meant staying OFF the road all weekend. Fortunately it was just overdue for a transmission service. New fluid and filter as she's back on the road.

2. My 350SD developed electrical problems that turned out to be a bad alternator. It is in the shop for a new alternator and a few other fixes, but rendered immobile nonetheless. The repairs should be done today, so hopefully I'll be back on the road this evening.

3. My backup vehicle ('94 Plymouth Grand Voyager mini-van) had a dead battery that needed a jump. Once that was done, I drove it all day and then in the afternoon used it to deliver some new oil to my mechanic so he could do an oil change on the 350SD while he has it. When I walked out of his shop, I noticed that the front driver's-side tire was very low. I jumped in and drove straight to Sam's Club (very close by) to get it checked. By the time I got to Sam's Club and talked with one of their people, the tire was nearly dead flat - just enough air in it to pull it into their bay. The tire had a huge gash across the shoulder that was unrepairable, so I had to buy a new tire. Fortunately they had one on sale that would suit my needs for $47.

All-in-all I got off pretty easy since nothing was a really huge problem - although I am sure the bill for the 350SD is not going to be pretty. I don't mind too much since the two diesels don't cost us much on a regular basis since we run them on WVO - we had repair costs like this when we drove gassers, PLUS We were paying for gallons and gallons of gas all the time! I just couldn't believe all this happened over 4 short days!!