Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I Am Greasemonkey, Hear Me Roar

This post is dedicated to my father, who would have been bursting with pride to see me at an auto salvage yard.

Our dear, dear 1994 Corolla with 156,000 miles has had more lives than a cat.  We don't ask a lot of it these days.  Ryan uses it to make the 5-mile trip to the slug lot and back, which amounts to no more than 3,500 miles a year.  It spends most of its life sitting in the commuter lot.  

Still, it's the difference between having another car payment to make or me having to drag two kids along to drive Ryan every morning and pick him up at dinner time.  

So, Ryan had a little accident backing the Corolla out one morning, and hit a neighbor's car across the street.  The neighbor's behemoth SUV was fine--but the impact took a toll on our brakelight.  And you can't drive a car with a broken taillight.



It was almost humorous to think this would be the final straw that broke our Corolla's back.  It's kind of like a 98 year-old-woman that finally dies of a cold.  But really--were we really going to put money in to fixing a car with little [Bluebook] value?  

We decided to get our mechanic's assessment of the car.  Does it have any life left, or is it time to let her go?  Well, the mechanic said it's a great, safe car.  The transmission, brakes and tires all have lots of wear left.  He said his one concern was "that broken taillight on the left.  You know you can't drive it like that, don't you?"  Ummm...yeah.

He said it was an easy fix.  Just call the local auto salvage yard and order a used taillight off a 94 Corolla.    He said it would be much cheaper for me to do myself and that it was easy to install.  Why not give it a try?

I girded up my loins and picked up the salvaged part from AAAACO Auto Parts, a place so rough that they genuinely seemed surprised to have a woman enter the premises (much less with 2 kids in tow!).  But I left with my new (old) taillight in hand for $69.

One slight problem--it came off an aqua car, so I first had to figure out how to replace the piece of bodywork metal.  After that, it was an easy fix.  In Tess' assessment:  "You just push, push, push it in.  And use a hammer."  And she was pretty much right:  a few bolts and a plug for the electrical connection.


I had Tess watch while I tested out the light:  "It WORKS, Mommy!  Hooray!  We car worker girls!"


Corolla life #29.  The legacy continues.  
And we don't have to drive Ry to the slug lot tomorrow morning!

4 comments:

Nana and Papa said...

You go girl! I see a reality show on HGTV just around the corner for you: "Mimi Stace's Super Salvage Finds."

Ann said...

Marc and I laughed through this post!!! You are awesome!!!!! I am impressed!

Dipsy said...

I am so impressed. You are car worker girls. A Tess sees one more evidence that so much is within her power.
Papa

Maureen said...

Wow wow wow! Way to go Mimi! I am sooooo impressed!!