Member-only story
What buying a car with a dying engine taught me
Cars teach you a lot about your body and the internet.
(Originally published on my Substack publication)
I bought a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze in June last year for 4900 Canadian dollars. It had 192k on the odometer but the dealer was clear with me that the car had been driven well over 250000. The number did nothing to weaken my excitement about getting a car in Canada. His agent had assured me of a year of free warranty on the engine and transmission.
I sent the boss whatever cash I had and whatever my wife had too. No test drive, no fluid check. I e-transferred him the money and drove the car home. The car brought us home safe and drove us around pretty well.
Couple of weeks later, I am driving to King City from Barrie, Ontario via Highway 400 when I get an engine overheating message on the car. I pull over, panic-call my wife and search the internet. The internet says it could be anything from thermostat to engine failure. I wait fifteen minutes for the car to cool down before driving it to King City and back.
As soon as I reach home, I open the hood expecting it to take me some time to figure out the issue but my eyes land straight at a white transparent bottle kind of thing to the right which had residue of some orange…
