Remember about a month ago when I asked if we should buy James a car? Even though James will never be able to drive, I thought it would be cool to buy an early ‘90s Mustang that the two of us could work on together and somehow modify so that he could ride shotgun while we cruised around town or took to car shows. Imagine the coolness factor of being dropped off at school in a classic Mustang.
Well, that dream was shattered just a couple of weeks later when I got smacked in the face with a large dose of reality. My car overheated on the way home from work, so I had it towed to the mechanic I had been using for the past couple of years.
The news wasn’t good. The water pump for the engine failed, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal. I’ve replaced water pumps on cars in the past. Every car I’ve owned up to this point has had the water pump on the outside of the engine. Drain the coolant, take off the serpentine belt and old water pump, bolt on a new water pump, put the serpentine belt back on (preferably a new one), and fill with new coolant. A bit time consuming, but a relatively easy thing to do.
Unfortunately, it is not that easy in a 2010 Ford Edge with the 3.5-liter V6. For whatever reason—and I’m sure there was a reason—Ford’s genius engineers decided to build this engine with an internal water pump. In order to replace it you have to take half the engine apart.
But that’s not the worst part. You know the saying that “oil and water don’t mix”? Well, when the water pump failed, it dumped water/coolant inside the engine and down into the oil pan. Now I’m not a mechanic—although I did go to automotive school for a brief period of time—but I don’t think water inside the engine can be a good thing. Definitely not good in the short term, but what about in the long term?
The mechanic assured me that they would be able to do a thorough cleaning of the engine to get all of the coolant and water out, get the water pump replaced, and get the car back on the road. Okay, so what’s it going to cost? Over $4,000. You have got to be kidding me! I told him that I’d have to think about it and that I would get back to him. Out of curiosity, I called the Ford dealership that I have also taken my car to see if they could give me an estimate. She said that I would have to bring it in to get an estimate. I told her that it was not currently drivable, explained what happened and what the problem was. She came back with an estimate in what seemed like less than ten seconds for almost the exact same amount that my mechanic was going to charge me. This told me two things. Number 1: my mechanic’s prices weren’t that much lower than the dealership so it might be time to start looking for a new mechanic. And number 2: the fact that the woman I spoke to at the dealership came back with an estimate so quickly after telling her that the water pump failed tells me that this must be a common problem.
It was a hard decision to make, but I had to let the car go. I just couldn’t justify spending $4,000 to fix a car that was 11 years old, had 117,557 miles on it, and was worth maybe $5,000. It just didn’t make sense to me. I was also concerned that there would be further issues down the road as a result of having coolant dumped inside the engine. As much as I didn’t want to think about buying a new car, it seemed like the smarter choice.
After a couple of days of researching cars, I had it narrowed down to the Honda CRV, Subaru Forester, or Toyota Rav 4. All foreign and all on almost every top 10 list. I liked the Edge. It served me well for almost 12 years, but after this catastrophe, I vowed that I will never buy a new Ford product again. Notice that I said “new”. I would still buy an older Ford Mustang to work on with James someday, but unfortunately that dream has to be put on hold. Daddy needs to buy a new(er) car first.
Maybe luck was on my side, or maybe I was owed some good karma. As I was looking for a new or slightly used card to buy, I found a Honda dealership about 45 minutes away from us that had three 2020 CRVs that had low miles on them and were priced lower than what I had seen at other local dealerships. The next morning after James went to school, Stacy and I drove out to take a look. It turned out that they were retired service loaners and couldn’t be designated as “Honda certified”, which is why they were a bit cheaper than other used CRVs that were certified.
As we were talking with the salesman, he asked if we had a trade in. Stacy and I turned to each other and laughed. He asked what was so funny, so I said, “well, I’ve got a 2010 Ford Edge with a broken water pump. If you want it, you’re going to have to go pick it up with a tow truck.” He excused himself for a few minutes, came back, and asked if we’d take $1,500 for it. “Are you freaking kidding me?! Hell yes! It’s yours!”
It’s funny—and a bit aggravating—how life works sometimes. A month ago, I wrote about my dream of getting a Mustang that James and I could work on together, but life had another idea and I had to settle for a CRV. It is what it is. Life happens and you just have to roll with it.
This has also put another thought in my head. At some point we’re going to have to replace Stacy’s van, and that is going to be quite a bit more expensive than a CRV. Right now, I have no idea how we’re going to be able to afford to replace the van. I am hoping that we can get at least another couple of years out of it, and that it doesn’t suffer a catastrophic failure like my Edge did.
