Cars and the problems that eventually ensue

Gotta car? Then you probably know what I am talking about.

I have this thing with radiators...My first car I bought used. The previous owner apparently never flushed herr radiator (or else only put water in it with no rust inhibitors that are normally included in antifreeze). So after a month, my radiator lost all of its water, causing my engine to seize up (the thermometer guage never told me a thing, since it doesn't work if not submerged in water). This cost me a new engine ($4000 including labor).

Then four years later, the engine seized up again, because of the radiator. Not sure how it lost the water this time, since I was keeping a closer eye on it, due to my previous experience. I ended up scrapping that car and buying a new-to-me one.

And then it happened again, two years later. I was very good about keeping everything in check. However, somehow my upper radiator hose got a nick in it and started to spew coolant. I smelled this immediately, stopped the car, and luckily was within walking distance of a GI Joes. I fixed the hose, but foolishly forgot to fill up the coolant again. A few days later, engine overheated. I added water back in, and milked it along, but it just kept overheating.

Fearing that I had blown a head gasket, I took it into my mechanic expecting to pay a bundle. After testing and testing it, he said it probably just had some air in the radiator, and he only charged me $90 (which I was happy to pay). But a few days later, there was a big puddle of coolant on my garage floor (never a leak before or after this). I replaced it with water, but the problem continued and just got worse.

This past weekend I spent mostly just trying to get everything working again. I sure learned a lot about radiators. But after all of this, I still had the same problem after driving 25 miles. After that I couldn't get more then a couple miles (yes, that would be about 1-2 miles) without it overheating.

So back to the mechanic it goes, most likely the head gasket. They really should design cars so that you can fix the silly little $100 item without having to spend $2000 worth of labor.

And it is amazing at how expensive they are even when they are working smoothly! Let's see...I drive about 40 miles per day on average (25 of this is just the roundtrip to work). At 20 MPG (my 1997 Subaru Outback), and with gas prices around $2.50, that comes to $5 per day, $150 per month, $1800 per year JUST IN GAS! Then there is the $1100 in car insurance, and (if you are still paying it off like myself) $2200 per year on the loan. This comes to a wopping $5100 per year (about $14 per day)!!!!!!