To sum up the auto drama that we've had recently goes as follows:
Load up all children and stuff into van to go to Boise for 4 days, turn key, van doesn't start.
Roll van back to jump it, smoke, sparks, jumper cables melted, children evacuated from van quickly, crying & screaming, van won't shift out of park, call a tow truck.
Covered by extended warranty we purchased? Nope. Send it to local place recommended by lots of people who we know.
Lots of tests and checks, part of computer coded and needed to be reprogrammed, done, fixed, about $100, could have fried engine and cost a lot more, blessed? Yes.
7 days later...
Load kids to run errands, van no start again, call back auto repair place, sending tow truck, go try it one more time, it starts, no tow truck, paranoid and freaked out that it will do it again, yes.
The next day...
Load kids in car to take to school, van no start, kids crying, Mom frustrated, call tow truck, ugh...
Several hours later, call from auto repair place, battery dead, battery was fine before now dead, OK, $150 for tow + new battery, again could have been much worse.
There are a few lessons to be learned in all of this. If the battery isn't totally dead, don't try to jump it. Calmly trying to figure things out and quickly moving to plan B is necessary sometimes. Knowing that even though this extra problem wasn't ideal, it could have been a lot worse has made the whole thing less painful. I am certain of 2 things from our experiences with this little set back. 1.) Things can always be worse so be grateful for little trials. 2.) Going with the gut feeling to just have someone local look at it and take care of it was the best way to go. If it had gone back to the dealership in SLC they could have run us through the ringer and there would have been nothing that we could do to dispute it because the vehicle would have been so far away and the cost to tow it back from there would be insane. Not that they would have, but I really feel that it could have.
