No Longer Under Warranty

I fear that I am no longer operating under warranty. I know that I have well exceeded my 100,000 miles. My everyday vehicle is showing signs of wear and it is very frustrating.

I am the first to admit that I probably haven’t been as diligent as I should have with my preventative maintenance. Sure, I went to the mechanic when it was acting up, but as for regular oil changes, tire rotation, and the other things that race cars need…Well, I must admit I did not follow the standard maintenance procedures. I have spent many years just testing the limits and pushing the gears, not really concerned about possible wear and tear down the road.

Perhaps, that is why I am having problems today. I have been having the various knocks and bumps checked out when I put my vehicle through its paces, but never considered that something structural was the cause of my performance issues. Here I was just hoping to get a wheel alignment and now, as my previous post has revealed, I have just discovered that my frame is bent.

There really is no option to trade it for a newer model, and frankly I wouldn’t want to. It has too many memories attached to it. I know the story for every ding and scratch. It has carried four passengers safely to their destination. It is worn and comfortable, and up until as of late, quite predictable.

I have spent two weeks being angry at my vehicle. Upset that it has some serious structural damage and frustrated that I have been asked to not take it around the track for a while. I have been irritated that this imperfection had been hidden from me and annoyed at the problems that my bent frame has caused.

As my mechanic diligently works to minimize any performance issues due to my structural problems (as the frame cannot be completely straightened), I am cross. I can no longer function comfortably in my vehicle. It no longer feels like it fits. The contentment is gone and when it left, it took my power with it leaving me with a misfiring engine which is no longer able to produce the power it was just a mere two weeks ago.

I started to rue the day that I even took it to the mechanic. Friends, relatives, and my mechanic have assured me that my vehicle, although it still will have a bent frame, will run better than before. It will be more fuel efficient and my power will return. Perhaps it will even be faster. But, lately, I have started to doubt as I travel through each day which a vehicle that stutters and stops, lurches and sways.

Then today, I decided to look at my vehicle with a different perspective. Rather than viewing that it has let me down. I am starting to realize that perhaps it is the exact opposite.

My vehicle, which frame was bent more than 20 years ago, has worked hard compensating, dare I even say masking, its structural problem. I have run it through college competitive swimming, mountain biking and road biking, hiking, running, canoeing, white water rafting, and last and most importantly, carried precious cargo four separate times without any hesitancy.

More often than not, it has exceeded my expectations with its performance in race situations. It still fired when it is running low on fuel and the engine is overheating. It delivered all that I have asked of it and more.

The frame, although it is not straight, it is the same bent frame that has done all of the wonderful things in the past and with a little TLC and some rebuilding, it will continue to race through life. It can and will race because the engine and computer are not damaged ~because it is me.