Driving home from Costco on February 29th, I pulled off the highway and suddenly white smoke erupted from the engine of my car (beloved 2004 Honda CR-V named Roxanne). I pulled into a random parking lot, which happened to be a muffler shop, and a nice guy who saw the smoke pulled in after me. He and the muffler shop owner scoped out the engine and told me the radiator was probably damaged, and that she wasn't safe to drive. Boooooo. Fortunately I have awesome friends who live close by who were able and willing to rescue me and the children and take us home.
The next afternoon we had Roxanne towed to a mechanic, who confirmed that it was indeed the radiator, along with some connecting parts, which would all need to be replaced. Ouch. So I was carless for 2 1/2 days, and got my Roxanne back thinking everything was fine and dandy.
Fast forward to this week: suddenly she started acting up. Shuddering, stalling out, smoke from the tailpipe. I feared the worst. I took it to a different mechanic this time (not that I had a bad experience with the first, but this other mechanic had been recommended by a friend, and I trust good referrals). It was only a couple of hours later that I got the call: blown head gasket, and likely a damaged cylinder head.
I honestly had no idea what that meant. But I was talking to my mom, and when I told her, her reaction told me to expect bad news. And it came while I was on the phone: $3000 for the head gasket, and if the cylinder head was damaged, another $800-$1200 on top. I was heartbroken. I had looked up my vehicle on Kelly Blue Book, which said that in good condition it would be worth $4200. There was no way we would get Roxanne repaired. *sniff*
James and I very rapidly assessed the situation. We had been planning to get a larger family vehicle after he graduates from law school. We briefly debated just purchasing a get-by-for-now car, but ultimately decided to invest in the long-term vehicle we'd been planning on.
Commence car shopping! To be continued...
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