Thursday, July 17, 2014

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: My Honda Insight Not Starting!

This is my car.




It's a Honda Insight.

I know it doesn't sell as well as the Prius. But I love my car. (And also, it was slightly cheaper than the Prius.)

I bought it in 2009. When I say bought it, I mean I applied for a loan. I only have $3000 left on the loan! It's almost officially mine.

So naturally, it starts to have problems.

The other day, I stuck my key in the ignition, turned, and....NOTHING.

Well, not nothing. On the screen a bunch of warnings popped up. Check Brake System. Check ABS System. I'm about to blow up.

That last one obviously didn't pop up, but I FELT THAT WAY. All these warnings, all at once. I felt like I was in a Bond film.

"Why?" I shrieked. "Why now?"

I tried several times and the same thing.

I unleashed foul language and stomped into the house.

"My car won't turn on!" I yelled at the bathroom door, because Tom was taking one of his massively long dumps that I still don't understand. (You get in. Do your business. And get out. That's my mentality, but men don't seem to grasp this.)

"What did you do to it?" Tom answered. I could hear the noises from the game on his iPad. Why would you want to poop and play games? Why?

"Nothing! I went to turn it on and it WON'T!"

Ten minutes later, Tom emerged. He went out and tried. Same thing happened to him. He started messing around with stuff, the car made some scary noises, and it finally came to life.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I held the key down in the ignition until it started," Tom explained.

This is clearly not the way a car is supposed to start, so we made an appointment with the Honda dealership to look it over.

I was worried after we dropped it off with the mechanics and waiting in the room. Please let my car be okay. Please let it not be expensive. 

The mechanic came out an hour later. He said it was the battery.

Thank goodness it wasn't the transmission. Or...other car stuff. I really should know more about my car.

We replaced the battery, and all seems to be okay now.

Let's hope it doesn't scare me again. It's almost paid off and I want to have a No More Car Payment party, dang it.

24 comments:

  1. Car problems freak me out...and I'm with you...when lights start coming up on the dash...I feel like it's gonna blow up! lol. Glad it was an easy fix!

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  2. That sounds like a good party to have! And I'm laughing because I had an ex who would be on his laptop while he pooped, back in the early days of social media.
    You'd hear his little AIM sounds. He'd be chatting on the john!

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  3. I'm glad it was just the battery!! It seems I am always on my way somewhere, like a big trip out of town, or a meeting for work, when all those lights come on! It's happened to me twice. Obviously the car started but when weird things start flashing at you, it makes you nervous. The last one was the tire pressure...the day before my husband was supposed to take a trip with my car (because it's the lowest mileage one).

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  4. I would freak out too if I were in your place. And I am laughing so hard right now - my uncle is even worse - he stays there for at least an hour, until he is done reading newspaper!

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  5. my old van is doing the same thing. We need to get it into the shop. I named him George.

    I name all of our cars. We've had Jalopy and Delilah!

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  6. Car problems are awful, mostly because you have to rely on someone else to tell you what (usually expensive) fixes you need!

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  7. I just had a car issue too and our car is paid off. (Hooray!) I feel ya, don't wanna have another car payment!

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  8. My boyfriend spends half the day in the bathroom I dont get it either.

    Ugh car problems are the worst. My window wont roll up in mine this morning I was cussing it all the way to work.

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  9. I'm glad it was just the battery! Car problems suck...especially as you approach the end of the payments!

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  10. When I started reading this I thought it was probably a battery problem. Glad that it was a cheap and easy fix!!

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  11. I am so glad your car is doing well. I hate car issues. They can really mess up a schedule.

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  12. Augh! I HATE car issues!!!!! I really hope your car lasts for years and years and you have NO MORE PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. Car problems are one of the worst forms of anxiety for me! Especially when the car shouldn't have an issue!

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  14. I had that happen to me in April. I had just parked my car and when I went to start it it wouldn't! The lights still worked so I didn't think it was the battery, but sure enough it was. Glad it was something "cheap" for you, too!

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  15. Not to be negative nelly over here. I have a Honda Civic - 2 months before it was paid off - AC went out, tires needed to be replaced, CV boot... I was FURIOUS! No wonder people switch cars out quicker. I got everything but AC fixed...I will drive it until the wheels fall off, just not in the summer time...

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  16. Had my 2004 Honda Accord for 10 years now. Only replaced the battery once on it in 2008. I went to one of those "you fix it yourself" auto stores and got a new battery put in it. Nothing since has gone wrong. Knock wood. I did my homework when picking out my car. Honda Accords are the best out there.

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  17. Car problems suck...and they suck even more when the car is paid for. We had our car paid off for almost 3 years and she was still going strong...pushing 300,000 bought brand new 5 years prior, she did us well. Other than a few maintenance and wear and tear things, she held on strong and still is probably. We made the decision in December to buy a new one...i felt so sad saying bye to my car and along with the new car, a new car payment...blah - after 3 years sans car payment, but I also want a reliable vehicle that is going to get us to work and we travel daily putting around 75 km daily!
    Have a good weekend and hope the car remains okay!

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  18. we just rebuilt the transmission in our Honda Odyssey and I totally understand your fear!

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  19. so annoying when that happens. at least it is working again!

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  20. Hondas have a good reputation for running for a good long time, so hopefully you won't have anymore problems for a while! I know car problems are scary--they're just supposed to turn on like normal and not pull any of these crazy tricks...our cars are pretty unreliable and quite old...we are pretty excited to no longer own them and have to deal with them!

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  21. I cracked up when your husband asked what you did to it. That's what my husband always says and it makes me SO mad! I have car trouble - I feel your pain. Glad it was just the battery. The good news is it's a Honda and they run forever :)

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  22. Thank god it was just the battery! Same thing happened to me though, as soon as my car payment was nearing the end, the problems ensued.

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  23. Thank god it was just the battery! Same thing happened to me though, as soon as my car payment was nearing the end, the problems ensued.

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  24. Our husbands are twins again, but he'd kill me for saying that, so don't ever bring it up!!
    My Honda van has been pretty reliable so far, but he did just have to have the timing belt replaced. That was $$$!

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