She's back!

My mechanic calls me at work and says that the Daytona is ready.  I ask him about the AC and he says that it is blowing icicles inside.  Great!  I tell him I'll pick it up this afternoon then I ask him how much the final bill was.

There is a pause on the other end.

I don't like it when my mechanic pauses because that means that he's about to tell me something that's going to scare me and probably put my wallet in the ICU on life support.  He tells me that the bill he quoted me the other day wasn't "exactly" right because he had forgotten to put some things on there.

Okay, I think.  We're probably in the $900's by now.

He tells me that the repairs ... getting the Daytona running, changing over the AC, new compressor, new evaporator core, new lines, and fixing the oil leak ... grand total is $1400 and some change.

There is a pause on my end.

That probably scares him on the other end.

Okay, that pretty much wipes out all of my Murphy buffer on this car.  Gone.  No more cushion but at least it's all fixed and she's blowing snow out the dash so it was worth it.

I tell him I'll get my wife to run by and settle up with him and then I'll pick up the car later that evening when I get off work.

$1400?

Wow.

So, now my $1800 car is a $3200 car.  Still worth it.  She's worth it.  I keep telling myself that so I don't have to hear the screaming and wailing and gnashing of teeth that my wallet is giving me from my back pocket.


Later that night I get off work, take the TA home and I'm happy.

I've got my Daytona back.

It's running!

Fist pump.

It's not leaking oil any more in my garage.

Wave your hands in the air.

And it's blowing snow out the dash.

Slow death sentence averted.

I park the TA in the garage and go inside to greet my family.  My wife hands me the repair bill and I look it over.  It's what I figured, half of the cost was in parts and half in labor.  I'm okay with the bill because the Daytona is back to fighting and running shape.

My wife, daughters and I hop in her car and head over to my mechanics.  I see the Daytona parked outside.  I take my keys, unlock her and climb in.  My wife has an errand to run then she'll be back home.  I crank the Daytona, switch on the AC and it blows ... cool.

Not cold.

Not ice cold.

Cool.

Kind of ... cool.

Okay, this is R134A, not as good as Freon and the Daytona has been sitting outside for a few hours so maybe it will take a bit to cool down.  The TA is that way and my mechanic converted it a year ago so ...

Don't worry so much.

She's fixed.

I drive the Daytona home, take the long way, and she never really does blow snow out of the dash.  No icicles.  Just kind of ... cool.

My family and I go out to dinner late, we take the Daytona and even my family is somewhat disappointed in how not freezing the new $1400 AC is.  I'll give it the weekend and see what happens.