The Saga Continues…
Well, the unfathomable has happened. Just as things were beginning to take a turn for the positive, the Dodge has once again fucked up my life. After several months of decent running (still plagued with a questionable amount of regen cycles), it finally reared it’s ugly neon orange head. Just as I was exiting the highway, not a block from the diesel smog spot, I heard a familiar ding and my stomach dropped. I don’t know why I wouldn’t have expected this but there it was, lit up on the dash, my arch nemesis, the Check Engine light. My PTSD from the New Mexico trip came flooding back and I screamed fuckkkkkkkkkkk until my voice cracked. I keep an OBD plugged in at all times because, well, the fucking thing never works so I connected to find that the code was for “injection timing”. Yet another vague code that could mean a thousand things. I called my dad. He said clear the code and run the truck but on a Friday in Las Vegas, that’s just not feasible. It’s done. Kaput. Cest la vie. No crying over spilt motor oil.
Back at the apartments, I cleared the OBD only to find that it wouldn’t clear, meaning this is a permanent code. In code speak, that means it’s a big fucking deal and needs to be addressed at a Dodge dealership. So in she goes for the 9th time in a year, never having passed one single smog. And if you think the amount of times this truck has broke this year is alarming, wait until I tell you what the service department over here at Prestige had to say. The wait time on a diagnostic (yes, the answer to the question and not the actual repair) is 1-2 WEEKS FOR DIESELS. Yes, they want me to drop the $1,100 a month truck off for upwards of 14 days so they can plug in the same computer I bought on Amazon and tell me what’s wrong. For a woman who lives alone to not have a vehicle for several weeks sure seems unacceptable to me but, hey, that’s corporate America for you. I wasn’t provided answers, promises or even a rental even though this is covered under my original factory powertrain warranty.
No matter how much I keep trying to move on from this moment, things just keep getting worse for me and it’s hard to wrap my head around how I’ve wasted so much time and money in just one year on something so out of my hands. I can’t move on. I can’t buy another $90k truck. I can’t get this one fixed. I can’t work without a vehicle. I can’t provide income if I don’t work. It’s a sinking ship, and I’ve officially decided to tap out. I’m seeking legal counselor, for real this time, and have called Chrysler to open a case for a buyback. Just as with all my relationships, I tried to stay, to stick it out, even when I knew shit wasn’t going to get better, but eventually you have to accept defeat and move the fuck on.
#Dodgesucks