Car Trouble

So, on Wednesday, my car started acting up. It would rev to the point I thought the engine would explode, and hardly move. Before, it was doing it a little bit, but it hadn't been that serious -- I thought I could wait. But on Wednesday, it was bad. So, after calling around to few places, letting them know that I thought my clutch was slipping and getting a few estimates, I went to the place that provided me with a rental car, Advance Auto Pros. Turns out, it was the clutch - an $800+ repair (ouch!). Thankfully, my parents are helping me out! The owner of the shop, with whom I've been speaking, seemed like a really nice guy; trustworthy, knowledgable, etc. Plus, I got to drive around in a brand new '06 Ford Taurus for a couple days (I know, it's a Ford, but it was brand new, and a much nicer Ford than mine own).

I was supposed to pick up my car on Thursday, but they noticed the oil-pressure light was flickering (a problem I hadn't had before). So, they kept it overnight, and fixed it the next day.

Then, when I went to pick my car up yesterday, we got the payment all taken care of and everything, and he told me before I drove off that I would hear a grinding sound, but that I had probably been hearing it before. I said "OK," because my car makes a lot of bad noises all the time, and I figured he was referring to one of those. The owner told me that it was the ball bearings and that it wouldn't to drive on it for a while. But, when I got in my car and started to drive off, I noticed the grinding sound and I had NEVER heard that before. So, I turned around and brought it back to the shop. The owner said that he'd take another look at it, with me present. If the ball bearing damage was caused by wear, it's my dollar (or $200, as the case may be). If it was impact damage (which it has to be, because I KNOW I would have noticed that grinding sound before), he pays for it. And to make matters worse, he wouldn't pay for the rental car anymore. So, I have an old Toyota Corolla POS that I'm driving for the weekend.

We'll see what happens with this, but if he says it's my dollar, I'm going to have him put it back in and take it somewhere else. He's not getting my money for damaging my car. If he pays for it, he's gained a loyal customer. Here's hoping.