We had a crazy week this week. And not just because of Christmas. Our SUV, a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox, decided to die on us. My husband texted me Monday morning to say it had stalled on him twice on the way to work. He made it to work but I was nervous about him coming home. He takes back roads to/from work and it would be late. Sure enough, the car died about half way home.
It took some time but we were able to get it towed to an auto shop that is around the corner from our house. They were able to look at it the next day and called my husband to say the engine was finished. It was so low on oil that it burned itself out.
My dad is a car guy so I called him and we chatted about it. We needed the full story from the garage but we found it odd that the car would burn oil so fast. We just had the oil changed 2 months ago.
We got the full story the next day. It turns out Equinoxes are known for this problem. The engine rots to the point where it burns oil and dies. It doesn’t give any indication of the oil being low and there isn’t much in the way of a warning that the engine is dying. I had driven the car the Friday before, just a short distance but hadn’t noticed anything. My husband said he had heard a quiet banging in the days prior but hadn’t nailed down what it was.
And then poof, the car died. Certainly wasn’t a long drawn out death, it died before we even knew there was anything wrong. The repair shop said there wasn’t much point in replacing the engine (it was going to be about $5000 with parts and labour). They explained that because it’s an ongoing issue with these cars it could happen again. We didn’t want to throw money away or be worrying about a ticking time bomb so we decided to donate it to charity (Kidney Foundation) for a tax receipt.
What a nightmare. We read up on the issue and there are lawsuits going on in the USA and Canada surrounding this problem. Cars dying with no warning. People who had the same situations we did. We had no idea it was something we needed to be watching for either.
And yet, through it all, God had his hand on us. I couldn’t believe how he had been watching over us.
For starters, I had really wanted to go to an open house on the Saturday before the car broke down. It was the annual open house at Rocky Ridge Ranch, and it’s always plenty of fun. It’s a bit of a hike, around a 90 minute drive there, C was working so I would be on my own but that usually isn’t an issue for me.
Unfortunately I had woken up Saturday morning feeling exhausted (pregnancy is doing a real number on me) and knew there was no way I could drive the distance. Not only that but it was snowing, which turned to freezing rain. I was bummed. Actually I was a little angry. It would have been nice to get out and see everyone. But we stayed home.
The thing is, I would have taken the SUV instead of the truck. It’s better on gas and has good snow tires. That engine very well could have died while I was on the 400 series highway with my toddler. Or somewhere else far from home, with a toddler, in the middle of winter. There was a reason God didn’t want me going, and while I was mad on Saturday, by Monday night I knew why I was forced to stay home.
The other piece is that the car enabled my husband to get to work, died while he was on his way home, but it also died in a town. He drives mostly back country roads, which are dark and if the car had died somewhere out in the middle of no where, it would have been a different situation. Thankfully my husband was able to walk to a Tim Horton’s and wait in the warmth until the tow truck came.
So it was a crappy situation, actually if I’m being honest it sucks. It means we have to find a new (used) vehicle, and get by with one until something comes along. The car market right now isn’t great, so we are looking at holding off for a while. But through it all, I am very thankful. There were a lot of things that could have gone differently, and could have been a lot worse. I think about my husband driving that car in the busy city and if it had died somewhere there, it could have caused an accident. Or if I had been driving with my toddler…well you get the idea.
So sometimes life happens. Curveballs are thrown at us (right before Christmas) and we have to roll with it. God always has his hand on us though. He doesn’t take our problems away, but he does walk us through them. Even if it means we don’t get to do or go places we want to go.
All in all, I’m feeling very blessed. We still have a good vehicle that runs, no one got hurt and maybe we can save some money while we look for a new car. Life isn’t perfect but God sure knows how to make lemonade out of lemons!
And if you drive an Equinox, I guess this is a good time to check your oil stick, and check it regularly!
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