My last birthday sucked and I'm stranded

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am reallydepressed. Last Friday I left my home near Ft. Bragg NC to drive to Delaware. I was on my way to New Jersey for my Aunts Funeral. I was stopping in my hometown of Newark to see my cousin and a few friends and sleep. The funeral was on Saturday. Incidentally, Saturday was my Birthday and its the 2nd time I had to go a funeral on it, so my birthdays usuakky suck. (the first was my mothers)

I stopped in philadelphia early saturday morning to pick up 2 relatives that needed a ride. I have a 2007 Jeep Wrangler. I bought it new and it only has 23k miles on it. Actually 23137. Why because I have a short commute to work and I doin’t drive to places I don’t need to go to. I don’t go off roading in it. Honestly, even the local dealership in NC told me it was like new last time it was serviced.

But on the way back to Philly every time I hit an uneven patch if road on the highway it shook and rattled violently. I told my cousin I’d have it looked at before I went back to NC. On my way back to my motel in Newark, DE it happened again. I had to pull over and the shaking stopped. Started dribving again… steering felt funny…hit a bump, it started shaking and rocking again. Ok, now I’m thinking I’m only a few miles from Wilmington. I can get off of the highway and find a garage, or try to take an alternate non-interstate highway route to Newark. But just when I’m almost to Exit 5 it happens again. A guy in another jeep signals for me to pull over and he “blocked” the 70 MPH traffic enough for me to do so.

He says he saw my wheels shaking and we took a look…the “arm” that holds the suspension onto the front axles (I’m no mechanic) had snapped. A clean break, too. So here I am, in Dress Blues, stranded on 495. I call Daimler Chyslers 800 roadside assistance number. Hey, its free if the vehicle has less than 36000 miles on it and I had at that moment only 23,137 miles. But its also 36 months and I’ve owned it for about 38 months. So I gotta pay 87 bucks to get towed. I called my good friend Scotty who dropped everything he was doing with his two sons and came to get me.

Had Jeep towed to dealership in Newark. They said the repairs would cost around 3400 bucks! (this was yesterday…by the time we got back to Newark it was 7pm on a saturday and obviously the service dept. doesn’t work on sunday). But (and God Bless him) Scotty pointed out to the mechanics theres not even a scratch on the brush guard or any other part underneath the car so its not like I off roaded it, or abused the vehicle in anyway. The suspension arm or whatever its called was defective…it just BROKE. I had the car inspected less than a month ago for registration and it only has 23,137 miles on it AFTER FOUR YEARS. And I hated to play the military card on them, but becaiuse of the crap going on right now and the fact that I’m the NCOIC of my shop I have to get back tro Bragg as soon as possible,

The mechanic talked to his boss and they agreed to fix it (which involves replacing the axle I’m told) for 600 bucks. Thats not chump change and I’m a bit hurt for money currently, but its better than 3400. Still it will be the end of the week before its done. So now I’m stuck in this mean ol’ town…so far away from you…I mean my wife and home and cats. Sorry startled channeling Dire Straits.

I want to go home. Yes, Newark is my hometown, but I haven’t lived here for 20 years. My friends that still live in the area have families and jobs of their own so I have nothing to do and nowhere to go (or a way to get there) all day in this cheap motel. Not to mention I don’t have a lot of money since I need to pay the dealewrship and for gas/tolls to get home.

So Im kinda sad and depressed, lonely and frustrated. This was the shittiest birthday ever.

2

That completely sucks. I’m not impressed with the Jeep service. So sorry your birthday was awful. Hope it’s better next year. If I was closer, I’d buy you a drink.

3

Wow, that’s terrible. Sorry about the whole thing. You’d think they would have found a way to make an exception and consider it still under warranty. :frowning:

Hope it’s fixed and you’re on your way home sooner than expected.

And I hope that next year is a much better birthday.

4

Maybe you can start celebrating your half-birthday instead. Man, that 's really a shame.

5

That blows more than Charlie Sheen’s goddesses. Hang in there my friend.

6

I really want to go home. Sleep in my bed. See my wife. See my three cats. My friend offered me a room in his house but he has kids and a “squatter” to deal with (a friend of his wife that has been sponging off of him for 2 years…no joke…with her kid! different story but you get the idea)

7

Personally, I like the 1/2 birthday celebration idea… Hang in there. The week will be over before you know it.

8

Well, my buddy called and he really wants me to stay at his house until my car is fixed. With the money I’d save I can’t honestly say no. But I like having my own space. I like to left alone. I don’t like being a burden to him or his family even when they say they want me there.

Gawd I want to go home. If I had made it back to NC today I’d be in my yard grilling a steak right now and making plans to clear the ivy on the side of my home. I’d be talking to my wife and my favorite cat, Banshee, would be sitting in my lap while I read a book in my bed.

Freaking Jeep. How do I get the one jeep with the defective parts?

9

You are lucky you were’t hurt or worse.

My dad drove an AMC Eagle for a while in the 1980swhen he worked for the government. (lowest tender vehicle) It was the worst vehicle ever, in my opinion. Things went wrong for no reason, but once its axle broke in a motel parking lot. After a 300 km drive along a twisting single lane highway with a lake on one side and rock face on the other.

He checked into the motel, then put the car into drive to move closer to his room. The axle snapped. No one knows why it didn’t give out on the highway, but I am grateful. The fact that my brother was in the car with him just makes me (and my mother) doubly glad.

Scary stuff. Sorry your week has been thrown off course, but an accident would have been a lot worse.

10

Set fire to the Jeep in lieu of a cake. And punch yourself in the face just to keep in the spirit of things.

Happy Fuckin’ Birthday, Jolly Roger!! Why was he born so beautiful…

11

Cars suck.

12

There’s more than one. Trust me on this.

13

Just focus on the fact that you HAVE a wife and home and cats, that you HAVE friends who will look after you, that YOU WEREN’T HURT thank goodness, and that you can look forward to a birthday dinner of steak and cake and whatever else you like.

This too shall pass. Happy Belated Birthday. (We should have a Birthday smiley.) :smiley:

14

Just wanted to add a belated Happy Birthday and say the same thing as the others… hang in there. Next year will be a blast!

15

Nah, faithfool - next year will make THIS year seem like it was too much fun for one guy, a crapped out Jeep and $2800 that wasn’t spent.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN, JOLLY ROGER!!! Are you having fun yet?

16

Tough it out mate, the time will pass and then you’ll be back home with your missus and cats.

Yet another belated Happy Birthday.

17

Sounds like a good opportunity to see whether or not you and the wife enjoy phone sex.

Happy birthday! :slight_smile:

18

Well, I made it back to NC. My buddy has a full house, but he and his wife (and his wife’s best friend who has been living with them with her kid for a year!) put me up. I could have stayed with my cousin, but hey, my buddy and I go way back to when we both had nothin’. We’re pretty tight and he he and his wife insisted.

The dealership only charged me 600 bucks by giving me a “goodwill” warranty seeing how my car was in great condition, and had ridiculously low mileage after 4 years. Plus it was obvious that the suspension arm or whatever its called broke through no fault of the driver…it was just crap. So I got to spend time with my old friend and answer his kids questions (they think since I’m in the army I’m doing all this GI Joe stuff and jumping out of helicopters and driving tanks and stuff).

We even got a funny story out of it. (Well, you may have had to have been there). His youngest son who is about 8 said to me one evening before he went to bed about how his dad told him I was “hero” for serving while me, his wife and my bud were having a beer in the kitchen. I proudly stood up, walking to the bathroom that was right off of their garage saying “Yeah kid, I’m like Captain America!”…and fell down the steps. My friend and his wife, barely holding their laughter said “He means like ‘Underdog’.”

Heck, I’m home now, and glad to have made it safely. Gonna send his kids some Ft. Bragg T-shirts on payday.