The Acura Blessing

(print from my shop, found here)

I've got to write this down before I forget how grateful I feel inside.

And to set the stage for this,

it may sound a lot like i'm complaining (been there done that already),

but hang on because i promise there is a point and a purpose (a happy one!) at the end.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Since moving down here to Utah Kevin and I have been trying to pay off dept and credit cards like mad.

And we were doing pretty great until the new year hit,

then it just seemed like one thing after another kept coming up.

We added $400+ insurance to our list of bills (yep, didn't have that last year...go us. jk if you know me, you know this REALLY bothered me).

We found out the property taxes on our Kuna house were wrong and are now an extra $200 a month (what the FREAK?!)

We also found out the renters in our Kuna house were getting divorced,

and don't know how much longer the mom (who is staying in the house with her 2 kids) is going to be able to afford to live in the house.

I ended up having to go into the doctor for some lame issues I was having (haha and that's all you'll hear about that).

Then last week hit.

(well, let's be honest this whole year has been pretty nuts so far...and not in a good way)

For the past few days I had noticed the car was making a funny rattling/shaking noise when I would start it.

It went away the first few times I drove it,

and I forgot to tell Kevin about it (yeah whoops),

and then it did it again and didn't stop so I remembered and told him.

He listened to it,

told me not to drive it and that he needed to take it in to get checked.

Then he left for work.

So not a big deal.....unless on the day he tells me this it is the one sunny day of the month,

and all I can think about is going up to the running trail (Murdoch Canal Trail) that I love and have missed this whole winter!

I begged through text to let him let me take the car to go.

The kids and I NEEDED to get out.

We are sooooo over this grey weather/winter.

He finally said "sure"...which really means "i wish you wouldn't but go ahead anyways cuz i know you won't stop bugging me unless you go" (heheh....).

And I loaded the kids up and we were off.

It's only like 2 miles away.

SO not a big deal right?!

Well I got a little over half way there (remember the car is doing it's little rattling noise this whole time i'm driving),

and then all of a sudden the noise under the car gets louder,

and it sounded like something fell,

and then it sounded like something (like the bottom of the car) was scraping against the road.

It was so loud! 

And sounded SO bad.

I immediately pulled over onto a little side street,

got out and tried to check under the car to see if something was dragging?

(which really means i did a quick glance under)

I saw nothing,

but fearing for our lives I turned right back around and drove slooooowly home.

That noise sounded SO bad you guys!!

This also came up on the screen:

Kevin towed it into the Acura dealership on his way to work last Monday.

Tuesday morning they called him and told him that a spark plug had broken and fallen down into the engine and broken it. The engine was shot. They told us we needed a new one and that it was going to cost $7,100.

Holy whaaaaaa.

We don't have that money just sitting around.

Also, you should know that the Acura is almost completely paid off,

and that we were planning on selling it to make money off of it,

buy a different cheaper SUV for me,

and pay off more bills.

What just happened?

While Kevin was talking to the guy on the phone, he asked what he could get for trade and was told: "Maybe $500."

....which if you are a car person or know anything about cars (i don't, haha! but Kevin bestows all this knowledge onto me, if you can't tell),

you'll know that was like bascially spitting in our face.

$500 are you kidding me??

Kevin may have made a joke about ripping off a piece of leather in the car and selling it for more than that...

Our Acura is a rare model,

and just like every car, we've kept it SO clean and in almost perfect condition.

It didn't feel good to hear that at all.

He got off the phone and we just were at a loss.

We both felt like we had got punched in the gut and that the world was against us.

(a little dramatic? maybe. there's a good tween song that would go with this story i'm sure)

The day goes on and we do recognize that things happen for a purpose,

and that it could be worse.

I even said:
"Well at least none of us are physically sick. That could be worse!"

And then the next day I developed strep.

hahahahaha

I can't help but laugh now.

It's all so dumb and funny.

I was out for the week,

and then poor little miss Tinley got sick too!

Kevin could not believe what he had heard from the dealership.

What's more frustrating is that he has been taking our car there since we got it in 2012.

Every single thing we have done through them.

Kevin even went back through EVERY reciept to look and see if they mentioned anything about replacing the spark plugs or needed a new engine.

He found nothing...no notes on this giant setback.

After talking to some of his close friends and brother in laws about it,

he towed it over to a friend of Josh's, 

who is a mechanic for another dealer,

but works on cars on the side to pay for his vacations (um hi. i want to go on a vacation right now, anyone in??).

We didn't expect to hear back from him so soon,

but after a few days the guy called Kevin.

"So tell me again what was the problem with it?"

uh, well the car was making crazy rattling noises and sounded like it was going to explode.

"Oh. because i've been driving it for the past 15 minutes and i've been going hard with it even and nothing. I can't hear a thing. And I can't find that misfire code either..."

so so weird.

This guy also told Kevin he had opened up the hood and saw that the spark plugs were fine,

and the caps were on with cobwebs (indicating that the dealership hadn't even touched them or taken them off- remember how they had told us that one had fallen down into the engine?!).

Kevin had him replace the spark plugs,

and he picked it up last night.

Drives totally normal and there is NO noise whatsoever.

Regarding the Acura dealership?

Kevin left an honest review for them and will NOT be using their services again.

We are feeling pretty shocked and definitely feel like this was a HUGE blessing.

Yeah I had to go into the doctor for step...but that's why we have insurance, right?!

I'm feeling almost completely better!

Tinley is on the mend,

and life goes on.

We'll keep on keepin' on.
Everyone has hard times and every one goes through great times,
Kevin and I realize this and know that our trials may seem really silly to some.
We're just really really thankful today and wanted to share this happy incident in case some of you that are reading can relate or needed a little moment of "man! at least i'm not alone!".