Our Car Adventure This Week
Posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010
On Wednesday, I wrote the following email:
So this morning Husband came in from the garage and said, “I have a problem. An electrical problem with my car. It’s smoking on the inside.”
As I ran down the stairs to join him at the Explorer, my first thought was, “HUH?” and my second thought was, “MINIVAN” (I’m not proud of this 
. Husband fixed it enough to drive to school and I took Youngest to daycare since this is my day to work.
Youngest, being who he is, had all kinds of questions. We talked about smoke in the car and a possible resulting fire, and why I had to drive him to school instead of Dad. “We have a lot to pray for,” I said. I went on to tell him how I was grateful that they were at home when the car started to break down, and that everyone was okay. I told him that Dad was upset and we needed to pray for him to have a calm spirit, and that we needed to pray for God to provide us a way to get the car fixed.
Youngest crunched his cereal in the backseat, and I thought about how my focus is not panic about the car, but instead gratefulness for what is good about the situation. And while I’m concerned about the car – and about whatever money it will take to fix it – I’m curious not if God will provide, but how. As I was working on our taxes the other day, I noticed that we made a significant amount less in 2009 than in previous years, and God has continued to faithfully provide as well as adjust our priorities.
So after I dropped Youngest off at school, I picked Husband up and followed him to the nearest Ford dealership. Why did he go to the dealer? I’m glad you asked, I had the same question. There were a couple of factory fixes that he needed to get done and diagnostic shop fees are the same everywhere, so he decided to take it there.
We dropped it off and waited to hear the news, which was that the cost for repairing the problem would be about $420 – we’re still unclear whether or not that included the $95 diagnostic charge. Husband and I looked at each other and *SIGHED*. We could do it, but it would be challenging. And it seemed like A LOT.
“Maybe I should do it,” he said.
I looked at him in surprise. I hadn’t even thought of that. “Really?”
“Why not? At least I can look it up.” And that’s what we proceeded to do.
It turns out that the Multifunction Switch we needed retailed down the street for $60. To replace it, Husband needed to take the steering column off, unplug the old one, plug the new one in, and put the steering column back on. Our research said it should take about 20 minutes.
It took a little longer, but not by much.
I think the best part was when Husband called the Ford dealership back after our research and he told them he was going to pick up the car and do it himself. Of course, they warned him of his possible death should he even try , but he reassured them of his comfort level and asked – out of curiosity – how much the part would cost if we bought it there. The Multifunction Switch that retailed for $60 down the street…
$200.
“Let me get this straight,” Husband said. “I just found this exact part for $60, and you would charge me $200.”
The answer was yes. I know, because I heard about it ALL THE WAY TO THE DEALERSHIP to pick up our car.
That’s okay – this was a good lesson about not being afraid to consider all the options…$155 total was SO MUCH BETTER than $420 to $500.
Thanks for making me smile. We had to deal with dead batteries in the car fobs this weekend, Instead of the dealer, we discovered that they could be replaced at the battery shop for $5.00.
Hi Kelly! I’m so glad you gave me your business card at BSF last Monday night because I’ve really enjoyed reading your various articles. Your blog is both informational and entertaining. Thanks for sharing!