Quick post to moan about the trouble we are having with our car at the moment. For no other reason than to get it off my chest… I’ve already talked a little about this, so I’ll just continue from where we left off.

On Monday I worked from home (again) and got the mechanic to look at the car (again). He thought, as did I, that it was probably the crankshaft position sensor. This is a fairly simple bit of kit which doesn’t cost too much to replace. So, he ordered a new one from the garage, and then left the car. On Tuesday I got the bus into work. I called up in the afternoon to see how things were going, and he said that the dealership had ordered the wrong part! Apparently crankshaft sensors come with 5-pin or 4-pin connectors on my kind of Saab 9-3. My car has a 5-pin one – the 4-pin version had been ordered (apparently that’s more common but still). Annoying, but still – one more day of getting the bus couldn’t hurt!

On Wednesday afternoon I rang again, to find that the part had been ordered and replaced. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the problem: the mechanic (Andy) said that he’d replaced the sensor and then driven the car around again, trying to stop / start and generally replicate the problem. It manifested itself again! He took it into the dealership, who said that the computer was giving a fault code indicating something was wrong with the immobiliser! It makes sense, it explains why sometimes the car won’t start, but it’s really bizarre though.

Apparently they’re snowed under at the moment, so it will be next Monday before they can fix it! Fortunately, our friends AJ and Jen (who let us stay at their house a couple of months ago while our boiler was being replaced…) have let us borrow their second car for a few days, so I drove into work with that today. It certainly beats standing out in the cold for 45 minutes waiting for a bus – especially in this weather.

I just hope that the car does get fixed on Monday. It’s quite frustrating, having the car out of action for that long – especially over the Christmas period, when we need to get out to church for various services, when it’s freezing cold and not pleasant waiting for the bus etc! To be honest I’m a bit worried about the car as well – that’s the second thing gone wrong with it which really shouldn’t have done. It’s always a bit worrying not knowing if anything else is up with it. I think cars are just a problem, especially when you’re doing 250 miles a week (as I do), and they’re 10 years old. Perhaps after this I’ll have no more problems with it.

Anyway, if we do go to college next September we will probably be looking to get a different car – the Saab is lovely to drive (I’ve certainly missed it the past day or two borrowing AJ and Jen’s car. There’s nothing wrong with it – a 2003 Nissan Almera – but it doesn’t have climate control, and a few other niceties – it’s also a bit louder), but it’s not the cheapest car to run! – it’s really designed for cruising on the motorway, not driving in traffic.

So, there you have it. That is my tale of woe regarding the car! I’ll stop moaning now…


Comments

3 responses to “Car Woes”

  1. That’s odd because reading your earlier post it sounded exactly like a problem I had with a previous car – and in that case it *was* the crankshaft sensor, though it took them an age to find it. It’s the only time until reading your post that I’d heard of that kind of problem. Hope they sort the immobiliser problem out; a Saab is a much nicer car than what I was driving back then – come to think of it it’s a nicer car than what I’m driving now!

  2. Hi Phil, thanks for your comment! Yeah, the mechanic thought it was the crankshaft sensor – pretty much everyone I spoke to thought it was!

    I do like the Saab, I just wish it was as reliable as everyone tells me Saabs are… c’est la vie I suppose. Cars = trouble!

  3. Yep, I’m afraid that’s just the way it is with cars. They’re mechanical and electrical, therefore they will eventually go wrong, no matter what brand or age. You’ll remember I had no end of trouble with the Mini, despite how much fun it was. I had to admit I’ve had far less go wrong with subsequent cars, but then again when they do go wrong it tends to be more expensive to put right! Basically, my advice would be to always have some money put aside just in case, no matter how long you’ve had the car or how recently it’s been fixed!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts

Get new posts by email