Mon 18 February 2008 - Smokin’!
My car is smokin’. But not in a good way.
It’s just coming up to ten years since I first got it. And it’s a ‘93 model, so sometime later this year will be the car’s fifteenth birthday.
There’s a strange rattling noise when I start it up (rumoured to be an issue with the balance shaft chain — whatever that is), and worse, it’s putting some smoke out of the exhaust when idling, or accelerating from a stop. This isn’t a good look for anybody, let alone me.
It’s going for a service pronto, but I wonder (yet again) if the old beast may be reaching the end of its useful life. While I drive about a third of the Australian average of 15,000 km per year, it’s no good if it’s polluting more than it should.
PT is just not up to scratch for some trips for now, and the car sharing companies aren’t even considering the burbs like mine yet. And while I should make more trips by bike, it ain’t gonna happen just yet. And the theory of doing any necessary car trips by taxi isn’t as good as the reality.
So I think it may be about time to upgrade the ol’ rustbucket.
Last time I pondered this lots of helpful people commented. So once again, I’m pondering Corollas, Golfs, Civics, Vectras, Peugot 307s, that kind of thing. Safe (4 stars or higher?), economical, trouble-free.
Sigh. Damn expensive business though, isn’t it.
Cars. Money pits.