The WarCamp Line - December 2001

Good News – Bad News – Good News

At 67,000 miles you expect to see a few problem crop up with your car.  We don’t look forward to them, of course, but when they surface, it’s not that big of a surprise either.  That’s what happened to me this past week.  I had this persistent rattle that I couldn’t seem to find.  After some time under the Bondmobile, I was able to pin it down to the exhaust system. 

BAD NEWS: As I looked further, it became obvious that it was the catalytic converter.  Wow, bummer, big bucks.  There goes the Christmas budget.  After a couple of post to the message board, I was very sure that it was in fact the cat but perhaps there was an extended warranty on environmental related parts.

GOOD NEWS:  The dealer confirmed that the warranty on the cat was 8 years or 80,000 miles so they would pay this cost.  I took it into the dealer and since I’d had a problem with a slight coolant leak that I couldn’t find, I added that to the list.

BAD NEWS:  The coolant leak turned out to be at the bottom of the expansion tank and the only was to fix it was to replace the radiator.  Remember the part about the Christmas budget?

GOOD NEWS:  The loaner Mr. StJohn set me up in was a ’01 3.0 Coupe with only 200 miles.  Wow!  That was a good ride.  All shinny, not a single rock chip to its nose and of course it even smelled good.  Black exterior with black leather.  One of my friends said it looked like the Batmobile.  How’d it run you ask?  Like a dream.  That’s as smooth an engine I’ve ever sat behind.  More horsepower than the law would want to allow and torque like you wouldn’t believe.  Also, it’s setup a bit stiffer than the Bondmobile and that’s fine by me.  But all that’s a story for another day.

It’s so easy to get seduced by a younger car.  I, for one, like the coupe in the first place.  ‘Wouldn’t this be nice,’ I thought.  She made the garage look so much better, hey, she made me look so much better.  Maybe I really NEED this car.  Look mine is starting to have problems, perhaps I’d be better off in this one.  It might even cost less in the long run.

Who am I kidding?  Remember the part about the Christmas budget, I did.  No I didn’t get it.  I went back to the dealer, paid for my new radiator, turned in the Batmobile and picked up my nicely detailed Bondmobile and drove to work so I could afford Christmas.

I thought, ‘You know, the Bondmobile isn’t that bad.’  I started feeling guilty for looking at another car.  Did Bondmobile know I had looked at another with lust in my heart?  I hope not and if she did, she didn’t tell me.  I pulled over, put the top down and drove on to work.  We both liked that.

               Warren