"Carrie"

I've aptly named my car "Carrie", after the supernatural horror novel by Stephen King, which was also made into a movie of the same name. "Carrie" is a black Renault Megane Sport. She's sleek, good looking and fast. It was love at first sight when I saw her, and I faught tooth and nail to get her. I've had experience with love at first sight before. My last 2 relationships "Clash of the Titans" and "Wrath of the Gods" which did not fare so well.  In hindsight "Carrie" is actually the first love at first sight relationship I've had...

I have had endles shit with this car and it's just not letting up. It began 4 years ago with an accident, in which my open driver's door was removed from the body of the car, by a passing truck. Even my insurance company laughed! I did not think it so funny. From then on the the shit began. Shorty after getting her back from the panel beaters, the hand-brake went. Now normally you would just replace the cable, but no, car companies are now in the business of spare parts. You have to replace the ENTIRE mechanism, which does not come cheap. My car was under motor-plan, but when you read the small print, EVERYTHING falls under an Act of God, and therefore is NOT covered. A few month's after that, on a very cold August morning, my gear box seized. Again, repaired at my expense, at it was an Act of God! It was at this point that "Carrie" bites onto my wallet and does not let go!

The electronics on this car is something else. It has more wires running off the battery terimals than those that leave a power sub-station. I have had to replace the battery EVERY YEAR. And there is no warning when "Carrie" will decide it's time to replace it. You can be in the middle of no-where when she decides its such time. And yes, that has happened to me to. The key to this car is a very fancy credit card shaped key. How technology works for us now. But, you bend that card or get it anywhere near your cell phone, and the thing is rendered useless. I have to travel with a spare with me at all times. The key also works off a battery. If the key has no power then it is also rendered useless, so I keep spare batteries in the car now to! If the card/key reader does not "sense" the key has been inserted in the slot, you cannot start the car. Now I have been in "Tweebuffelsmeteenskootgeskietfontein" ie in the middle of fucking nowhere, not even cell phone reception, when this has happened. You can imagine how funny I found that situation to be! NOT!! Anyway, managed to get her towed back to civilisation and a Renault Service Centre. As luck would have it, my other spare key had broken and I did not replace it. So now I had to have a new one made. Which takes 3 weeks because it comes from France. I had to use the pick-up, from my then boyfriend's place of work, so I could at least get myself to work during that time.

The next thing to go was the clutch. Another Act of God that I had to foot the bill for. We're now close to me having spent the equivalent of a small nation's GDP to keep her on the road. In being a sports car, "Carrie" has low profile tyre's and also no spare wheel! She comes with two small canisters of "Tyre-Fix". South african roads are treacherous to say the least. Obviously her hard suspension and low profiles do not agree with our roads. I have had numerous tyre changes, and if it were an Olympic Sport, I would be the Gold Medal winner! Remember there is no spare, so you have to take the wheel off the car and take it to a Tyre-shop to have repaired, then back to the car and fit the repaired tyre. This eats into your time and just drives your frustration levels up. Being a sports car with a hard suspension, I have had to replace the engine mountings on her nearly every service.

So last year August, my key broke again and I also had to take her in for a service. When I got the quote of what needed to be done I was floored. I had thought it would be a minor service and the key. Well, I had to replace the steering column, all the wheel dics and shocks and a couple more things I'm sure the Service Centre made up just because they could. The bill was astronomical and maxed out both my credit cards. But it doesn't end there. This year in July, while driving back from Pretoria with a dead cell phone. She decided to run out of oil. Now you cannot drive a car without Black Gold otherwise your engine seizes. But, in considering this, driving in the early hours of the morning I think my safety more important that the car so I continued as far as I could. The engine seized. It took 6 weeks to reapair and has brought me to the brink of financial ruin. I got her back in August, and 2 days later had to have her towed back to the mechanic as my clutch cable broke. Get her back and 2 weeks later my car display lit up like a Christmas Tree. There was an issue with the battery and the alternator. So I had to have that fixed.

A couple weeks back in taking a friend home, I had another accident where the battle between "Carrie" and South African roads was lost. My mag wheel needed to be extensively reapaired and it took 2 weeks to do so. In that time, as there is no spare wheel and one could not be sourced, she has stood on bricks at a Petrol Garage.

 

 

 

 

I got her back last Friday afternoon and falsely believed that this was the end of my shit with her. Not to be! Yesterday, she decided in her infinite wisdom, that she has not finished toying with me. She is now refusing to start. Like any troublesome relationship, you have your ups and downs. I'm putting this down to the "Itch" which occurs after some years spent with the same person. I will see this through as I have invested too much time and money in her just to walk away. Maybe, I'm being my usual stubborn self and refusing to let her win. But at the end of the day, she is paid off next year, and I refuse to get into another 6 year higher purchase agreement. I would rather ride a bicyle than spend any more money on a depreciating asset such as a vehicle. The money could rather be used more wisely elsewhere.

 

I would like to have a very long discussion with the designer of this vehicle. What looks good on paper does not neccessarily function well when produced. What really irks me though is the fact that we can send a man to the moon, and return him safely to earth, but we cannot make a car last more than 150000km. Everything is made with built-in redundancies these days. Nothing is made to last. I have replaced nearly everything in that car from bumper to bumper. She may be my Achilles Heel, but I refuse to surrender. At some point the shit has to end, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't believe it's a freight train coming toward me either! I'm putting my Trust and Faith in God and His Universe, that He will help me through this challenging time, and in the end all will be okay!

 

God Bless!