When Warranties Expire

I shouldn't complain too much. Our truck is now six years old, and it has served us very well in that time. But I still can't help but feel a bit betrayed that it decided to have problems now. Had we not driven the thing back and forth to Nebraska, to vacation in North Carolina, a couple times to my parents in Colorado and to Pittsburgh when we lived in Nebraska, we would still have a warranty right now. But we don't. We don't because the warranty is for 7 years or 70,000 miles, whichever comes first. We passed 70,000 miles almost a year ago I think it was. I saw the very number turn as I pulled the truck into the garage that day. It was a horrific feeling. I truly thought it was going to break the next day.

It didn't break though, and it went on without incident for nearly year. That's pretty good in the Murphy's Law category, but sooner or later, something will come up. Something has. And the worst thing is we don't know what it is.

I mentioned the trouble we had with it last Saturday. What I didn't mention is that it's been doing this weird lurching thing for probably a couple months now. It hasn't gotten worse in that time, thank goodness. I harped on John the whole time, telling him we had to take it in for repair, but he kept saying it could wait. Christmas was coming, and there was the possibility John would be out of a job on January 1st too. I didn't want to wait, but I did. Luckily, nothing more has happened, and the truck remained drivable the whole time.

The problem with the tire not turning on Saturday sounds like a brake problem. John's uncle who works on the city busses for a living said it sounded like a brake problem, and the mechanic at the shop said the same thing. What doesn't sound like a brake problem is the lurching though. Sometimes, when we come to a stop and then start to go again, the truck won't move. Then it suddenly lurches forward. It's possible that's a brake problem too; that maybe that back brake is sticking and then lets go finally. But the mechanic also said it might be what no owner ever wants to hear. Transmission.

So my truck is in the shop right now, and I'm awaiting a diagnosis, so I can see how many of us have to donate kidneys before we can pick our vehicle up again.

I just got our first call, and it is the brakes. In fact, it's the very same problem that has been fixed twice before. The axle seal broke and leaked fluid all over the brake pads. The last time this happened, it was all changed out and fixed (under warranty), and I asked them then if this is something about which I should be concerned since it happened before. No, no, no. We got it right this time. No worries. Yeah, no worries for you because you aren't staring at a warranty that's about to expire. Now I'm looking at nearly $300 in repairs over something that wasn't supposed to happen again.

I told them all this, and if there's one thing about this service department, they take care of their customers. So they are looking at the axle and bearings and whatever else might be wrong to cause this problem a third time. Hopefully I won't have to pay for all that too, since this is obviously a problem that's been around while the truck was still under warranty, but I have a very bad feeling that there's an even bigger bill in my future, even though I asked when the repair was made the second time if there might be something wrong with it then. I'm not shelling out the dough without causing a ruckus because of that. I was assured it wasn't more then.

Second call finds there is something else that is probably causing this problem to reoccur. It's something about too much clearance in that area, but the axle itself is fine, thank God. This jacked up the cost of all this to $440. It also caused me to have to assert myself; something I hate doing.

I really think this should be covered by our previous warranty, because it is the third time it's happened, and I asked last time this was repaired if there was anything else wrong. They told me over and over there wasn't, that this was just a freak occurrence. Yeah� a freak occurrence that happens every 25,000 miles. How convenient. That means I'm in the shop paying $300 every time this freak occurrence happens again and again and again. And I told the service manager that, so she's calling Toyota to see if they will cover it. I'm not going to get my hopes up.

I felt like a complete cheap-ass bitch when I brought the whole thing up, and of course, I apologized for even mentioning it, like it's my fault my truck is defective. I rarely stick up for myself in these situations, and John is even worse than I am. He'd rather just pay the money and avoid the hassle. When it's a $440 hassle though, I'm not keeping quiet. I doubt he would either, but he also wouldn't press the issue like I plan to do if I get an initial negative response.

It's that way with most things. If I feel wronged, I have to speak up. He won't do anything about it, even though he may feel the same way. It's not worth it to him, and that hurts my feelings sometimes. The most notable of those times was when his ex-wife filed for an annulment through the Catholic Church, so she could get remarried in the church. She said John started his relationship with me before he did (to make it look like he cheated on her) and that I lived in my car with my son. I thought he should fight it and at least tell his side of the story, but he didn't want to fill out the paperwork or do anything. "Just let it go. It's what she wants, and I don't care." So the lies about me stand documented in some dusty file of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and she got her annulment. I just got hurt because my husband wouldn't stick up for me.

There are a couple other times that still sting when I think about them: when I talked to Kay about something that happened to my niece, the anniversary quilt debacle. He thinks I'm just harboring bad feelings and that I should get over it. I usually do get over things, but these have less to do with the people involved in the actual event than they have to do with him. And until he starts speaking up once in a while, I don't know that I will stop feeling bad about them.

It's not that I need a savior. I don't need him to do something for me. I just want to know that he supports me. It's something we talked about in counseling, something I think he still doesn't fully grasp. I thought maybe he was right for a while, that I was just being weak and overemotional, but when we brought it up in there, my feelings were validated. I'm not a crazy, vindictive bitch. That's always good to hear.

This is all a roundabout way of saying I wish I didn't have to handle these things all the time, like this truck stuff. He doesn't want to pay this money any more than I do, but he won't do as much to keep from having to do it. I'm left handling the phone calls and writing the letters and dealing with my feelings. I feel sorry for myself. Yes, I do. But once in a while, I have good reason.

Most recent update... they're paying! All the service manager asked of me was to fill out the survey Toyota would be sending about the service I received. I gave her a hearty "No problem!" This place has often taken care of us, so I should have had more faith. But then, it wasn't this place's decision but Toyota's. I was well-represented though. Yay, yay, yay! This made my whole day a lot better!