As I get older I get different – the birthday gift from Holden
Today is my birthday, it should be a day to smile and indulge.
Last year we went to Queenstown for a visit, this year on the weekend we went to the beach house, where the weather was fine and dandy and I ate too much, drank too much and did too little. Had a great time of much relaxation, did some Gentleman fishing, and went to a party, had a BBQ breakfast and sat around.
But today I’m at home, taken a day off work to be communing with myself.
I also put the philmobile into the Holden garage for a service. Doing the right thing, keep the service plan unto date. It’s not an old car, November 2009 was when it was first registered, and I brought it in August of 2010. It’s now got 60K on the clock. And i presume it’s still under a manufacturer warranty. Like I said not old by any definition of old cars.
Things to do on your birthday include then not putting your car in for a service, since they rang me shortly after with the news that it needs about $600 dollars worth of brakes and rotors. It seems they rotors are made from tin foil or something, and of course are “wear and tear” and not faulty and therefore not warrantable parts. Farcical. Added to the other “parts” that you need for a service and I was in for $1,302 today.
I looked up the trade in value, and it’s worth between $18,000 and $23,995 depending on if it’s an auction or from a dealer. $600 would be about then 3% of the value of the car.
Quandary is to keep it, and be frustrated at the expense, or trade it in a fit of pique for a whole new bunch of expenses, or having spend the money wait a year to get some of the value from the expenses. I’m not sure MrsPdubyah is going to be best pleased when she looks at the Visa card bill later.
You know I’ll still be driving it in a year.
Tempered with this is that I just brought lamb shanks and they’re in the slow cooker and about 8 hours away from being ready to eat. I might be in a better mood by then. Might. If not at least I’ll be tasty.
A life just as ordinary 
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I too just put my 2010 cruze in for its 45k service, I also received a phone call advising that my car needed new rotors and front brakes and would cost over $600. How can this be?
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The service manager told me that it’s the way the brakes and rotors are now. They both wear at the same rate, or in an equal rate that means you need new rotors (discs) much more frequently than you used to. I have seen only a few complaints about the wear rates, which means either there are a few of us who drive with heavy braking, there are a very few cars that have got to 60K, or that people accept the cost as a part of the ownership.
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