Living in rural Mexico, parts are not handy for my 2002 Sienna. I do keep only spare belts in the car, usually used belts that were replaced by time rather than by failure. In Mexico, on toll roads and major highways, they have a free service called colloquially the Guardian Angels who will install those things totally free if you have them with you. At 205,000 miles, this car hasn’t had a lot of failures. The battery failed twice, both times in my driveway. Knock on wood…
“unless you are moving to Wyoming, Montana or some other Third World place…”
Hey there, watch it. Not all of Montana is rural. We only had to drive 14 miles to get a gallon of milk.
The year they put some crushed rock on the road sure made the drive nicer though.
As a matter of fact, my 4 year old battery failed in front of my house yesterday
The day I noticed it getting weak was the 4th, so Costco was closed. I tested the battery with my microvat, and it failed miserably.
The next morning, I had to jump it with my cables. Then I drove straight to Costco, where I bought a new battery. The price was about $40 cheaper than I would have paid at Autozone, O’Reilly, etc.
price was about $40 cheaper
Could that be why the battery only lasted 4 years?
The OP started this a week ago but has never returned…
True, but it seems like business as usual for us to babble amongst ourselves.
I ve decided that jeep Cherokees 4.0 L-straight 6, of a certain age, are a good model for me to stick with for the foreseeable future. dependable, relatively simple and plentiful.
now I hope to find a parts truck, that someone considers useless, for cheap. this will save me money and perhaps be profitable if I eventually scrap what I don t need properly.
@asemaster
$85 for a Costco battery that lasted 4 years seems pretty good to me versus $125 for an Autozone battery battery which may or may not last longer
I’m not complaining
I may be reconsidering @#%%#ing jeeps
“I may be reconsidering @#%%#ing jeeps”
You’re talking about the 90 Cherokee with the oil pressure trouble? Maybe you should be reconsidering @#%%#ing 25 year old cars with unknown service history.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I dunno, a 70 mile walk in ten below weather to the nearest parts store in South Dakota is a little much for me. They don’t have buses and lots of the towns don’t even have taxis. Then again you can always have it towed the 70 miles. There are tow trucks even if no buses and taxis.
I will confess I have a set of wiper blades in the trunk. They are dealer only at $35 each so I just put the old ones in the trunk just in case. Lots of times I have my shot gun in there too just in case.
I buy what I can afford. i may need to go back to 40 yr old trucks.