By the Numbers

 We recently got back from a two-week roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest, a place where we lived most of our lives and where we first fell in love with beer. (Not to mention each other.)

It was a trip fraught with car problems the entire way. Not exactly ideal. Each time we stopped at an auto repair shop, we tried to evaluate if it was time to retire our 10 year old car with 156,000 miles on the odo. It's a diesel and run likes a champ. Except lately, when it doesn't.

The problems started on Day 2 of our trip. We could have turned around - cancel the whole trip - but we didn't. We pressed on. Things didn't seem all that bad. We arrived at our first destination on Day 4.

On Day 6, we took it to a mechanic. The first of three. 

We were shocked when they told us an axle needed to be replaced. We were also surprised by the cost. It was expensive. We contemplated trading in the car somewhere and buying a new one so we could continue our trip. We also thought about flying to our next destination and onward towards home. We did neither of those things. Two days later, Day 8, we were on the road again and to our relief everything seemed fine.

But then, two hours later, we made a pit stop. As we exited the freeway we heard a sound like we had blown a tire but I had no trouble controlling the vehicle. At our stop, we inspected the tires and everything looked fine. Puzzled, we took it to Mechanic #2 who said one of the tires - the one on the newly replaced axle - just needed rebalancing.

Two hours later, we were on the road again.

Just an hour and a half after that, we pulled over again. Something was not right. The car was shuddering. Enter Mechanic #3.

This time, all four tires were rebalanced. Another two-hour delay. When we finally hit the road, we only made it a couple of blocks before we circled back to Mechanic #3. Things were not better.

With a total of four hours delay for the day, we decided to call it quits and spend the night. We weren't going to make our destination that day. Not for the first time, we contemplated ditching the car forever. Instead, we rented a car and left ours with Mechanic #3. 

This was Day 9 which just happened to be July 3, the day before a long holiday weekend. The mechanics would not be working on July 4. Luckily, they were able to work on it the next day - Friday, July 5. On July 6 - Saturday, Day 11 of our trip - we returned to see if they figured out what was wrong with our car.

Mechanic #3 said the problem with our car was that the new axle fell out. Not all the way out. Just enough to make everything rattle and shake. It wasn't seated properly; it couldn't be. Mechanic #3 said we needed to take it back to Mechanic #1 because the axle they installed was too short. This is why it "fell out." However, he said it was safe enough to drive the 220 miles back to the first mechanic. 

This was nerve wracking.

We called Mechanic #1 but the shop was still closed for the holiday weekend. They wouldn't be open until Monday.

We re-routed our trip, skipping our next intended destination, and backtracked to the first mechanic. We had two days to kill: Saturday and Sunday. Naturally, we found beer. (You can see all the beers we tried on our trip here.)

On Monday, we were on Mechanic #1's doorstep when they opened. (We tried to call ahead but they were closed.) They were just coming off a long weekend and were not thrilled to see customers first thing that Monday morning. They told us they couldn't work us into the schedule right away. Maybe they could do it that afternoon, they offered. 

We insisted. We had already checked out of our hotel and the car was fully packed with two weeks worth of stuff. They could fix it right away or we were going to camp out in their waiting room until it was done. Ten minutes later, the car was on the rack. Shortly after that, we overheard them conferring. Indeed, the axle had fallen out and needed to be replaced again.

A new one was ordered and someone was dispatched to get it. They had us on the road again a couple of hours later. Day 13. 

Day 15 we were home and the car has been fine ever since, all thoughts of disowning it long forgotten. Through it all, we covered

• 3,600 miles
• $3,200 in car repairs
• 28 different beers 
• 14 nights
• 11 breweries
• 8 hotel rooms
• 6 stops for mechanical issues
• half a dozen friends
• 4 states
• 3 auto repair shops
• 2 relatives
• 1 rental car

And one raging case of hemorrhoids, in the end....

Despite the discomfort, the delays, the hand-wringing and uncertainty, the unexpected costs, and a missed stop . . .  despite vows that we'll never do it again, we had a great time because that's what roadtrips are for: surviving the unpredictable. Besides, it could have been worse.

There could have been two raging cases of hemorrhoids.