edge

  • It's a been a long time.....

    So I haven’t written since end of August, right before they launched this new Xanga 2.0. It’s kind of different, and I’m not sure if I like it, but that’s not why I haven’t written in so long. I’ve just been really busy with house stuff. Shortly after my last post, I received the keys and became an official homeowner, but that's when the real fun/work began. Filling a house with stuff is pretty fun & exciting, but it sure does get expensive. And I want to get everything now, but then my credit card balance will spike, moreso than it already has, and it has a sad :( . So I have to patiently wait to get my house fully furnished. In the meantime, I have to deal with my super picky HOA. I hate them with a passion. Really.

    side note: I finally have time to post again because I took a day off to take the X5 to the shop in Dublin (overheating issues), so I'm once again waiting at my favorite Starbucks.

    Since my last post, a bunch of stuff has happened that I would've normally written about, but never had the time. So my blog writing was relegated to a list format in a word doc. I'll try my best to try and go back and write full entries about the interesting stuff.

  • oh mini....pt. 2

    Every year since the original factory 4-year/48,000 mile warranty expired sometime in mid 2008 (hit the mileage before the years), the mini has averaged $1300 in unscheduled maintenance costs:

    2009 - $1100
    2010 - $1500
    2011 - $1500
    2012 - $1100
    2013 - $1300 
    Also this year, I'm going to have to get new tires, which will cost around $700, but should last about 3 years. I also have to get my clutch replaced sooner or later, since it's still the factory original with 159,000 miles on it. That's going to cost damn near $2000, so I would definitely like to wait till 2014 to have that done. Hopefully it'll hold up till then.
    Whenever anything bad happens to my car, I get mad but I'm always willing to pay to get it fixed. I mean, what else am I going to do? I've never really thought twice about it, but now that I can see it all written down like that, this is really fucking bullshit, like for reals.
    I'm not sure what the breaking point for me will be. When I had the civic, it always had some kind of minor problem, but it was always fixable. I stopped fixing it when the cost of repair was more than the value of the car itself. When one of the four cylinders lost compression, that was it for me. That's a super major overhaul. And I was ok with it, because I had the M3 waiting for me.
    With the M3, if it was up to me, I'd still be driving it today, even after the accident. I really, really, really wanted it to be fixed. But no, the insurance company decided the repairs would be greater than the value of the car, so they declared it totaled. But again, I was ok with it because I had the mini as a backup.
    But now, with the mini, there are no backup cars. Well, there's the X5, but that's not really my car, but I can use is whenever as long as my dad doesn't need to drive it. And although the repairs to the mini are costly, they still don't exceed the value of the car. Yet. It's getting there.
    The thought of getting rid of the mini has never crossed my mind. And it still hasn't. Now that I see a pattern with the maintenance and how much the yearly cost is, I can (and will) start to budget for it. Lately, I've been mostly good about cutting down on buying crap I don't need, getting my AmEx balance down, and saving money in general. I guess I'll just have to cut down some more. Though, the thought of getting a part-time job has crossed my mind. Not sure if it'll have to come to that, but we'll see.

  • oh mini....

    So....the mini is having issues. Again. Last week, it was kind of hot in Sac, so naturally, it would be normal for the mini to be running a little hotter than usual. But on the weekend, when it wasn’t hot anymore, it was still running hot. So I pop the hood and I see that there was an explosion of coolant that came from the top radiator hose. I had seen this same exact thing back in September 2009, and it was a cracked freakin’ radiator. Some design genius at BMW had the brilliant idea of idea of connecting the aluminum radiator core to plastic inlet & outlet hose ends. If either of those hose ends cracks or breaks, you have can’t repair it, you have to replace the ENTIRE radiator.

    What made it worse was that this occurred on a Friday night and absolutely needed my car fixed asap (the reason escapes me, but I know it was important), and my normal shop, Edge Motorworks in Dublin, is closed on weekends, so I had to take it in to the stealership, which totally lived up to it’s name. Damn their high labor rates!

    Without even thinking twice about it, I had it replaced with the same exact oem radiator, thinking it was just some kind of fluke accident and wouldn’t happen again. Well, fast forward 3.5+ years later, and it appears to have happened again. It looks exactly the same. But this time, I’m bringing it into Edge. When I called to make the appointment, they said they’ve never even heard of radiators cracking, that they’ve never seen one crack. I was kind of surprised, but I trust them, and it made me wonder if the freakin’ stealership pulled a fast one on me. I do have coolant leaking from somewhere, cause I have to add water every time I drive it, and it totally looks like it’s coming from the top radiator inlet hose end. I guess I’ll find out for sure when I take it in on Friday.

    To be safe, I ordered an aftermarket, all aluminum radiator. It costs about the same as the stock radiator, it has no plastic parts to crack or break, and if it does somewhere crack or leak somewhere, it comes with a “no questions asked” lifetime warranty. Worse-case scenario, I have another cracked radiator, that’ll be replaced with a better one. Best-case, it’s some kind of repairable leak and I have to pay for the return shipping cost of the aluminum radiator. I’m fine either way, I just want my car running normally again.

    Here’s a list of parts, not part of normal wear & tear like spark plugs or tires, that I’ve replaced on the mini after 159,300 miles:

    front windshield (x2) - due to its sharp angle & bad luck
    thermostat & housing (x2) - bad gasket
    power steering pump & fan - fan failed, causing pump to overheat & fail
    radiator (x2) - bad luck?

    Next major maintenance is the clutch, since I’m still on the factory original. How long they last depends on the driver. Since a bulk of my miles were from my Fresno commute, all highway, I should be good. But I’m still kind of scared to floor it or anything cause once the clutch is gone, it’s gone. There’s no more “go”, can’t move the car, and you’re stuck wherever you are. I’m dreading the day that it goes, cause it’ll cost an arm & a leg, even at my shop, but at least I’m kind of prepared for it. The sucky part is not knowing exactly when it’ll go.

    And I’ll also have to get new tires soon. Tires for the mini are not cheap, as with everything else. But I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth on my current set. I think they were only supposed like between 50-60,000 miles and I have almost 70,000 miles on them. To extend the life, I had the tires flipped. But with so little tread left, I will not drive in the rain, won’t risk it. That right there should be enough to get new tires, but it hasn’t rained all that much lately, so I’m not that worried about. I’m hoping to squeeze at least another month out of them.