Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

Welcome To The New Year - Same As The Old Year

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Tuesday, January 6, 2015


So far 2015 is starting about as crappy as 2014 ended - with my car in limbo. Took it in last week to get a few little things done: An inspection, a minor, recall, and fixing the latch on the hatch. Danged if the emissions part of the inspection didn't find some uncleared codes hanging about. 

So the service guy suggested one of his techs drive it home for a couple of nights and the codes should clear. What we discovered instead was the downside of a hybrid. The codes take MUCH longer to clear because the gasoline engine isn't always running. So I have the car back for a couple of days in hopes that the codes will clear. I drove around like crazy yesterday, catching up on errands. None of the codes had cleared. 

Then I did some digging into what it takes to clear some of those codes. Ideally, the gas tank should be at 3/4 full. And I need to cruise around for a while at a speed between 40-65 MPH while the outside temperature is between 40-100F, which explains why the codes didn't clear yesterday. Given the weather forecast (highs of 40 F or below until NEXT Tuesday), this will be my last shot to get out and drive. I don't know what I'll do if the codes don't clear. 

Today's big errand will be a trip out to the fabric warehouses down in Perth St. Yeah, twist my arm. I need some fabric that I can't source via the usual retail suspects, so at least there's an object to my trip. I'd planned to do that yesterday, but it was just too damned cold. Some of those warehouses are either unheated or barely heated, and with my sinuses still going crazy, going out there just didn't seem like a good idea.

Still, the plusses of a hybrid outweigh the minuses for us. And I'll probably get my next inspection in November or early December while the weather here is a little warmer, just in case. I also have another reason to move the inspection date. A new state law requires a car to be inspected within 90 days of registration. The state is going to a single sticker. This year is a transition year, but since my registration is up in December it makes sense to go ahead and get the car inspected early so I can get potential problems cleared up before registration. 

The good news in all this is that the car is only two years old, so the emissions stuff is still under warranty. When all is said and done I should only have to pay for the inspection plus a little gas they put in the car. Given the way things have been going lately, I'm not holding my breath.

Tags: Life

Filed under: Life            

 

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