My greatest Fear came true last night!!!

[tripods68]

Yes.....our Honda Odyssey died completely! Not sure what's wrong with it, but I smell BIG $$ sign everywhere. This is my wife's daily commuter to work everyday and with 187K on it, we expected this day to come.

So we pulled our emergency procedures:

1) Borrow parent's car for few days. We have to return it by Saturday afternoon, maybe till Sunday. CHECKED!

2) Already know where to take our Van for estimate & possibly repair. CHECKED

3) Call AAA to bring to repair shop. On its way

4) What's wrong and how much it will cost to repair?

5) Emergency Fund Locked and Loaded - Ready

We've been looking for a 3rd car in the past few months. With our car dying last night we are going to be looking for used car, preferably 4 dr sedan that gets at least 30+MPG. Our budget for this $15K maximum including repairs.

[bjl584]

At least it looks like you are fully prepared. You are light years ahead of most people.

[tripods68]

At least it looks like you are fully prepared. You are light years ahead of most people.

Update: AAA on its way.

What's wrong: Talking with the repair guy, it seems like the Alternator might be FRIED completely which explain the smoke/smells in the garage last night. Makes sense. I hope this is the case...

[bjl584]

Update: AAA on its way.

What's wrong: Talking with the repair guy, it seems like the Alternator might be FRIED completely which explain the smoke/smells in the garage last night. Makes sense. I hope this is the case...

That's an easy fix. $100 part and a couple hundred more in labor.

[Nutria]

I thought you were going to say, "Obama declared himself Emperor for life!!"

[AJ444]

At least it looks like you are fully prepared. You are light years ahead of most people.

This, my buddy just wrecked his 13 year old car and had no backup plan. He ended up buying a used car at a super high interest rate.

[97guns]

are you sure that its your greatest fear? having a vehicle with 200k on it totally die?

i fear a few things but with that kind of vehicle id be more waiting for something to happen rather than be fearing that it happens

[tripods68]

are you sure that its your greatest fear? having a vehicle with 200k on it totally die?

Title mainly for click bait purpose.


It's tricky with alternator because you JUST don't know when it will go out. The van was fine and it was in garage. Half an hour later it was completely fried van wouldn't even start. I don't how you test for something like that other than regular scheduled maintenance oil/change & tire rotation.

I just found out my battery is fined. I replaced that batter a month, so I knew it wasn't the battery. So they are hinting toward the alternator at this point.

[greenskeeper]

If you really wanted to be pro-active you could swap out the alternator and battery at the same time. A bad alternator or a bad battery can ruin it's counterpart. Not many people do this for obvious reasons, however a lot of people make the mistake of replacing the battery and killing the new one because the alternator was bad in the first place. Can happen in reverse too.

[tripods68]

UPDATE:

It was the alternator that was fried. The total repair cost $614 include parts, labor, and diagnostic. It'll be ready by noon today.

Yes. We got lucky no major damage or expensive repair at this. I was completely happy when my shop said "I had a similar problem with my Sienna, it was my alternator".

Lesson Learned: Make sure you have you EF in placed & have a detail plan to execute your plan. Expect the Unexpected.

Next Plan: We will fast track looking for a 3rd car in light of this event.

[greenskeeper]

That alternator must be a bear to get at on your vehicle for the shop to charge that much.

[Butterscotch]

Had to replace the alternator in my car two weeks ago. $695 if that makes you feel any better about $615.

[tripods68]

Had to replace the alternator in my car two weeks ago. $695 if that makes you feel any better about $615.

Final cost $614 (parts $314 + tax + labor 176 + 95 diagnostic). I thought it was reasonable. They also replaced 3 fuses that was burned for GPS & Radio.

[TexasHusker]

UPDATE:

It was the alternator that was fried. The total repair cost $614 include parts, labor, and diagnostic. It'll be ready by noon today.

Yes. We got lucky no major damage or expensive repair at this. I was completely happy when my shop said "I had a similar problem with my Sienna, it was my alternator".

Lesson Learned: Make sure you have you EF in placed & have a detail plan to execute your plan. Expect the Unexpected.

Next Plan: We will fast track looking for a 3rd car in light of this event.

I wouldn't worry too much about trading cars just because your alternator went bad - those things can be rebuilt for under 100 bucks.

[TexasHusker]

Final cost $614 (parts $314 + tax + labor 176 + 95 diagnostic). I thought it was reasonable. They also replaced 3 fuses that was burned for GPS & Radio.

You got hosed on the price but glad your back on the road. That's a $200 fix, max.